Addressing the simple...

Has the word 'simple' become derogatory?

Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines the word simple as an adjective in the following way:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/simple

Among the points in the definition are listed the descriptions innocent, modest, stupid and naive.

I like that simple is associated with the words innocent, modest and naive. Stupid? Not so much.

When was the last time you heard someone use the word simple in a sentence? Was it used with a positive connotation or a negative one? I find more and more that the word simple is not only used with negative connotation but that it has become somewhat of derogatory word. I find that utterly twisted.

When I think of simple things, I think of things like reading a book, looking into the eyes of another being, crafting a piece of furniture out of wood, taking a wave, making an incredible curry, or being regular (yes I mean pooping at the same time every day). When I think a bit more, I realize that all of these simple things involve complex and even inexplicable processes. But yet, they are still simple.

I started thinking about this when I was researching redox reactions as part of a couple recent Substack articles that I wrote. The electron transport chain involves a very complex series of reactions but at the same time, it is also very simple in its essence. It exists the way that it does for the purpose of ATP production.

I like to reduce things down (pardon the redox pun) to the simple. I really like breaking things and trying to put them back together. This for me, is the best way to learn about how things work. I have a strong desire to know how things work.

And I guess you could say I crave the simple.

I think that people have been being attacked by far too much visual, auditory and sensory stimulus, and also toxins for decades, perhaps longer. The ability to even recognize the simple is lost on many. In many others, achieving simplicity is not even perceived as a desirable goal, even if simplicity itself is recognized for what it is. It’s almost as if people have been brainwashed into believing that a simple life is ‘boring’. Simple and boring do not coexist, in my opinion.

Or conversely, that having excess is something to strive for. What is the good of excess if you don’t share? Hoarding is hoarding, after all.

Here’s an amazing movie that I love featuring Andy Nieblas. He needs no introduction.

Man he is sensational.

I can think of nothing sweeter than finding a little spot where the swell is good all year round, the water is warm, and there is mostly… silence. Except for birds and insects. Lots of that.

No phones. No rush. No faking.

Hard work. Beers. Laughs. Waves.

I think it’s time to tell ghates and the WEF to piss off and get back to what ‘normal’ is meant to be. It’s not this illusion of what we think we want as per being convinced by media entities and AIs.

It’s much closer to what makes us stable, healthy, balanced and free. If that makes me a savage, so be it.