Judging from current fads in vocabulary, it seems that most of us think that life is too complicated, or at least, more complicated than it needs to be. One clue is the frequency of the words, "basic" and "basically" in our speech.

"The basic idea of the proposal is...."

"Basically, how do you see the situation?"

And most all of us have given in to the fashion of creating nouns out of adjectives as we express the need to "get back to the basics" in everything from education to economics.

We long for clarity and understanding of the fundamental matters of living. As our lives become more and more complex, we yearn for simple, easy-to-cope with issues and ideas. But life seldom cooperates in our search for simplicity. To some extent the growth of religious fundamentalism in our society r…