What is the difference between a “simple solution” and a “simplistic solution”?
(P. Mahesh, Hyderabad) Simplistic is derived from simple, but the two words have very different meanings. When you give a simple solution to a problem, what you are doing is providing an easy solution. You study the problem taking into account all the facts and then provide a solution, which is uncomplicated. While the word “simple” has a positive connotation associated with it, the word “simplistic” has a negative meaning. When you say that a solution is “simplistic” what you are implying is that it is naive. The person offering the solution hasn’t taken into account all the facts and therefore the solution is oversimplified. It is perhaps downright stupid. Not many of us are capable of offering simple solutions to problems; but we are definitely capable of offering simplistic ones! Here are a few examples. *According to some experts, getting rid of Saddam Hussein is a simplistic solution to the Middle East problem. *The simplistic solution he offered was rejected by the members of th
