Reductionism

Description.

Similar to familiarity-bias qv, which can also reduce its thing-scope qv. Reductionism is an attempt to make the problem easier to comprehend, whereas familiarity-bias is a tendency to concentrate on what we're most familiar with. The outcomes can be the same: consideration of a system that doesn't represent all of the important components (noting complex-behaviour qv, etc).

Related Engine Processes.

Further reading.

Natural response to thing-scope qv.

Easily-comprehended system is not self-contained; tempting to address one issue at a time (reductionism) [systems-thinking qv and optimisation qv: fixing one issue may make other issues worse = sub-optimisation]. Link to self-awareness qv and open-mindedness qv: avoid reductionism.

Things may be linked much more extensively than we can comprehend or analyse, so need to draw the line somewhere (‘horizon’) (cf risk management [probability qv] with my modification). Our actions may cause changes in indirectly-linked nodes beyond our ability to anticipate those changes.[BW] This risks inaccuracy (hence adaptation qv).

People’s being busy encourages shortcuts such as narrow *-scope. Making decisions may require effort, just as implementing actions does.[BW] busy qv

Example: Getting government welfare $ without considering that this makes other people poorer, because the system is bigger than just government-recipient.

Example: Reducing landlord's rights without considering the possibility of reducing the availability of rental properties. [used this in outcome-scope qv]

Example: Increasing tax on cigarettes while denying that this could increase black market tobacco. [used this in outcome-scope qv]

Example: government debt. Focus is on spending borrowed money, but not considering where the money will come from to pay the debt (including interest) back. Often this is left to wishful thinking (optimism).

Example: Lobby groups are implicitly arguing for reductions in one or more things other than that for which they're lobbying (cf. element-scope-ex-1b.graphml in element-scope qv). It's convenient to think that the bucket of gold is infinite.

Link to instinct qv: historically, human activity had negligible impact on env, so we didn't have to consider the env. Also, instinct likes simple systems, so reductionism suits it.