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Wallowing in Complexity

Wallowing in complexity is a concept of giving a lot of deep thought to a complex question.  It involves coming up with a question first of all.  Also, the problem must be thought of from many different angles and different ways to address the problem than may initially come to mind.  Wallowing in complexity means that you can look at and analyze your questions from at least 2 different perspectives:  yours and the opposition, but possibly even more perspectives.  This concept involves understanding the history, context and important facts about your question.  Wallowing in complexity means opening your mind to many possible outcomes.  You may need to do research or conduct studies to attain more information about your complex question.  By doing these kinds of high level thinking and delving deeper, you could change your own mind or the question itself may be changed.  Wallowing in complexity is a great tool to basically have an internal dialogue with yourself exploring many different viewpoints and alternatives.

Colleges and businesses value and appreciate someone who can think on their own and be productive.  Wallowing in complexity can help the college student understand concepts by seeing the material in different ways.  Part of the wallowing in complexity process could be researching outside of lesson plans to find ways to truly understand.  Another way to wallow in complexity would be to free write all the things you think and feel about the topic.  For example, in reading a history book, you hear a lot of facts and details.  By thinking and delving deeper, gathering more background information, etc, the history can make more sense.  It would help to think about what those people were thinking or feeling, or what kinds of struggles they dealt with on a daily basis.  I could see wallowing in complexity as a very hard thing to do with history, specifically thinking about seeing the holocaust and slavery from the perpetrators views.  In the business world, employees want workers who can think deeply and come up with solutions to help make life easier, fix problems, create products and ideas that either make business easier, more productive or more money for the company.  I think a lot of innovative ideas and technology surely must have come from some serious “wallowers.”

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