notes-simplicity-failingToSimplify

Often when you think something is too complicated, and then you try to re-explain/re-imagine it in a simpler way, your way turns out to be unexpectedly more complicated. Some possible reasons:

• you underestimated the inherent complexity of the thing
• you are neglecting that the old thing was built upon well-known concepts, which even though they are complicated, are easy for readers to understand because they are used to them, whereas your new thing is more alien

side note: sometimes people are insulted when you claim that their concept or explanation is unnecessarily complicated