Complexity vs slow

One of the benefits of reading slowly, of taking time to understand, is gaining a grasp of the complexity and the nuances of what is being read, whether it is a literary work, a scientific paper, or even a news report with some depth behind the headline.

But there is a paradox: as the world steadily becomes more complex, the greater our need for understanding those complexities. Yet if we slow down to understand them, we may not respond quickly enough, or we feel that we are missing out on something else.

One way out of this is to rely more on experts. This makes a lot of sense, and certainly fits in with an idea of the division of labor to benefit all. But our politics have corroded a sense of expertise, which gets in the way of even being able to understand what the experts are saying.

There are no easy answers here. But it may be that slowing down to deeply understand a few things may be an antidote to speed and superficiality everywhere. If nothing else, grasping complexity in one area can help us recognize its presence in another, making us less likely to jump to conclusions from attention-grabbing headline.