I’ve come to greatly admire the late investor Charlie Munger, who spent a considerable amount of time developing mental models and learning to think better. One of the aspects of Munger’s philosophy that I appreciate most is his insistence on simplicity.

Munger did not attempt to be more sophisticated than anyone else — he just sought to be less dumb. His approach in investing and in life was to beat everyone searching for the elaborate solution by doing the straightforward, obvious thing. His partner Warren Buffett shared this philosophy, famously keeping a "Too Hard" pile on his desk. When an investment required elaborate justification to make sense, it went in the pile and Buffett moved on to the next idea (which was often something boring like buying Coca-Cola stock).

"It wasn't that we were good at doing things that were difficult. We were good at avoiding things that were difficult and finding things that are easy" — Charlie Munger

Both Munger and Buffett understood that complexity is often where mistakes hide, and that the need for a complicated explanation is frequently a sign that you don't yet understand something well enough… or that there's nothing really there. 

Complexity disguises incompetence 

While complexity often indicates confusion, sometimes it is intentional. The person who can't explain something simply may not understand it. But the person who refuses to explain it simply may have ulterior motives. 

Complexity can disguise incompetence — jargon and convoluted reasoning can make shallow thinking look sophisticated, at least long enough to avoid scrutiny. It can protect power — the “expert” who keeps their knowledge wrapped in obscure language makes themselves hard to replace and harder to question. And it can gatekeep access — technical terminology signals who belongs to the in-group and keeps everyone else from participating in the conversation.

The antidote to complexity and its dangers is a commitment to clarity. Richard Feynman embodied this commitment in physics. He became renowned not just for his contributions to quantum electrodynamics, but for his ability to explain difficult concepts in plain language. Feynman treated the inability to explain something simply as a personal failing, not a limitation of his audience. If he couldn't make it clear in simple terms, he hadn't finished thinking about it.

It's the strong swimmers who drown

Feynman, Munger, and Buffett also insisted on simplicity for another reason. As the old adage goes: "It's the strong swimmers who drown.”. 

Skydiving tells this story in data. According to the United States Parachute Association, six out of ten skydivers who died between 2003 and 2022 held a D-license — the most advanced certification, requiring at least 500 jumps. And the cause of death is telling: the majority of fatalities were due to landing problems, often caused by intentional low turns — aggressive, high-performance maneuvers that only experts would attempt. Meanwhile, tandem jumps, where a novice is strapped to an instructor, are roughly 2.5 times safer than solo jumps.

The same dynamic plays out in intellectual work. Expertise allows you to navigate complexity. You learn the jargon, the frameworks, the edge cases. You learn your way around elaborate systems that would confuse a newcomer. And this is genuinely valuable — until it isn't. The danger comes when being comfortable with complexity becomes a substitute for clarity, when the ability to handle complication makes you stop asking whether it's necessary.

Buffett's "Too Hard" pile wasn't an admission of limitation. It was a recognition that complexity is where overconfidence hides. The expert who can construct an elaborate justification for an investment is in more danger than the novice who knows they don't understand it. The strong swimmer is farther from shore.

Simplicity, in this sense, is not a starting point to be abandoned as you gain sophistication. It's a discipline that becomes more important as your capabilities grow. Clarity keeps you honest when no one else can tell if you're fooling yourself.

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool". — Richard Feynman

Simplicity is an achievement

Naivety and mastery can look similar from the outside — both produce simple answers. The difference is that mastery is the result of earned simplicity. The person who can explain something simply has done the hard work of understanding it completely. The investor who passes on the complicated deal isn't avoiding effort — they're applying discipline. The physicist who insists on plain language isn't dumbing things down — they're holding themselves accountable. Simple doesn't mean easy. 

“A novice is easily spotted because they do too much. Too many ingredients. Too many movements. Too much explanation. A master uses the fewest motions required to fulfill their intention.” — Jiro Ono