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The Power of Oversimplifying Complex Issues
How our former president mesmerized tens of millions of Americans into believing he had all the right answers
Since the beginning of time, man has been drawn to simple solutions for complicated problems. For the first 100,000 years that human sapiens roamed the earth, our survival depended on us placing meaning and order to the meaningless and chaotic nature of our existence. When there are thunderstorms and hail, we blamed the gods. If our children become ill, we turned to witch doctors. But we don’t have to do that anymore, or not as much, thanks in large part to science. We no longer live in an era of false hope and pretenses. Yet, how is that when our country continues down a path of moral decline, we think Donald Trump would be the most rational solution?
The answer is rooted in the fact that humans have a proclivity to attach themselves to simple solutions when they are faced with seemingly complex problems. People are most susceptible to this method of thinking when feelings of fear, anxiety, and despondency kick in. In other words, our emotions cloud reasonable judgement when we throw our full support behind a narcissistic conman.
Donald Trump is the king of oversimplifying complex issues. After he hypes up the key issues that stir up the largest emotional response, he exploits his supporters by proposing…
