We live in a world where technical complexity has a similar cachet (not for nothing did someone coin the phrase "recovering academic"). There is endless competition for the latest technical gizmo. Again success in
being able to use it brings the promise of your place on another pedestal.
Of course we know these are not just games. There is a serious point to all this. Complexity pays.
Those who master the art of being unable to make useful, even essential ideas and concepts understandable by the majority of the population can attract premium prices for their goods and
services.
I am a trainer, teacher and presenter, my role depending on the material I am using. In this industry if you can create a programme that lasts for a month or longer, or requires you to attend any number of modules to gain the dubious title of "master" you have hit the jackpot.
Self-evidently there is material and processes out there that do require a significant amount of training. What I'm commenting on here are programmes that are padded out merely to alleviate the designer or ‘originator’ to the status of guru.
Technological determinism (there is a rehab clinic for people like me) suggests the speed of technological advance is unstoppable. The dark, deliberate and manipulative side of technological advance is
trans-humanism. Trans-humanism is underpinned by the idea that replacing parts of ourselves, organs, limbs, even eyes and parts of our brain will somehow make us better, superior. It is the same mind-set that tells us most of our DNA is junk. To repeat, we can be improved by all kinds of technological wizardry
because we as humans are somehow inferior. No, get micro-chipped and dance to our tune. And of course, God was asleep on the job, or doesn’t exist.
Simplicity cannot be confused with reducing everything down to one-liners, loved by the tabloids. Nor can simplicity be used as an excuse to be lazy, undisciplined and critical of real genius and real talent. Which you have.
The title of this piece was coined by the man regarded as the greatest genius in history, Leonardo da Vinci. If you were to study Leonardo, how he actually used his talents to create his art, his inventions, his
paintings, his ideas and his sculptures, you will soon realise he had a passion for learning, a passion for knowledge and a drive to use all his senses, all his abilities.
Although I hate to say it, because I cannot stand most adverts, copywriters do possess the ability to communicate what might be considered complicated in ways that are easily understood.
The purpose of this piece, if the penny has yet to drop, is to realise that it is the duty of the person who is communicating his or her message, to ensure it is understood. And you do not need huge amounts of training for things that are integral to humanity like healing, love, compassion and empathy.
However if you enjoy the company of others in a learning environment, learning things of value, then carry
on. There a thousand worse ways of spending your time and money.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, and having an open mind the ultimate necessity.