ISUE25求拍，后天就考试了。麻烦多指教！

shemleungUID: 2299487

TOPIC: ISSUE25 - "Anyone can make things bigger and more complex. What requires real effort and courage is to move in the opposite direction-in other words, to make things as simple as possible."
WORDS: 717
TIME: 00:45:00
DATE: 2009-8-7 20:53:43

I partially agree with the speaker's assertion that to make things simple requires real effort and courage. This is particularly true in the academic fields as well as business world. However, it should be beared in mind that in many occasions complexity and thinking bigger are also of great importance. Indeed what is essential is to strike a balance between complexity and simplicity.

Every coin has two sides. Putting great efforts on making things bigger and more complex is one extreme while moving in the opposite direction -- to make things as simple as possible -- is another. It is pretty much determined on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes we need to think in great depth and explore as much as we can to dicover the rationale behind each phenomenon which requires a lot of trivial work on every branches derived from the main subject. Meanwhile, we also need to abstract the basic ideas from the enomerous studies or work to get a big picture of the general whole for the people who are devolved into it and the public who do not have sophisticated knowledge and expertise in this field to understand. Both are important; neglecting either will result in detriments in the progress on our work and lives.

I would first eleborate on the importance of making things big and complex. In sciences such as physics, chemistry and mathematics, digging as deep as possible into the question which involves tremendous complex thinking and work is necessary. Only in this way can scientists get more meaningful and precise obeservations and predictions. Nowadays there still plenty of mathematicans working on the hypotheses and propositions raised by predecessors, and what we can see is that what really matter is not the solutions to these questions and the various methods derived from their work, which has greatly boosted the studies in other subjects. Even in social sciences field such as economics, making things bigger is also the priori. Only by gradually loosing the assumptions to better meet the real-world situations, can economists establish more robust models to explain the non-rational behaviours of human beings in the economy, therefore better predict the pattern of certain behaviors and the trends in the future, such as the movement of stock prices. Arrow and Debreu used the fixed-point theorem to proof the general equilibrium theory, which is extremely sophisticated. But only because of their demonstration on the existence and efficiency of feneral equilibrium in the economy, can scholars today better predict trends in this uncertain and complex world. When we think about the business realm, people always have to put themselves into a complex "game" which require them to think about the general economic and political environment as well as the perceptions of other competitors.

On the other hand, making things as simple as possible is another important merits. in either natural sciences and social sciences, it is essential for the researchers to make general conclusions based on their complex studies for them to graph a simple picture for themselves and the public to better understand. Einstein summarized his theory on energy equilibrium into just three letters, while the famous capital asset pricing model only requires three observable parameters, though the deduction work and theoritical meanings behind them are tremendous. Economists always have the duty to enlighten the public, therefore making things simple is a must. Even in the world of business, people always like those who are sincere and forthright, seldom think too much on how to cheat when dealing with their customers; the stories of famous value investors Warren Buffett also tell that being simple and stick to the belief you are holding, you can still make a lot, even much more than being sophisticated as quantitative investors on Wall Street, into your wallet.

In summary, both complexity and simplicity are essential in either academia or industry. To make things bigger and complex, we are exploring and examing as many as possible facets to make more accurate conclusions. On the other hand, to make things as simple as possible, we are abstracting the most important elements of the whole problem and try to better understand it. All these depend on the circumstances and the nature of work. We must think seriously about both and try to strike a balance between these two.