reductionist

[ ri-duhk-shuh-nist ]

adjective

1. based on or explained by an analysis of the simplest or most basic factors of a complex phenomenon:

   A reductionist experiment is essential to isolating the impact of a single variable on the ecosystem as a whole.

2. simplistic to the point of minimizing, obscuring, or distorting a complex idea, issue, or condition:

   Both stories describe the same reality, but your reductionist version fails to capture the full truth.

noun

1. a person who believes that everything can be explained by reducing complex ideas or issues to their simplest component parts:

   To reductionists, all other worldviews are unscientific and sloppy, so they often choose to ignore evidence from observational studies.

Other Words From

• re·duc·tion·is·tic [ri-duhk-sh, uh, -, nis, -tik], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of reductionist¹

reduction ( def ) + -ist ( def )

Example Sentences

Her supervisor and mentor, Professor Louis Leakey, though, saw the value in her technique: “He wanted somebody whose mind wasn't messed up by the reductionist attitude of science to animals,” Dr Goodall explains.

From BBC

As this whale of an example suggests, the reductionist framework has profound consequences.

From Scientific American

Most consciousness researchers employ a reductionist view of the universe, where physics is running the show.

From Scientific American

“That can be reductionist and lead to making assumptions or generalizations about behavior that we can’t begin to understand in other animals because of different cultural constructions.”

From Scientific American

“The story of declining births in NSW is a complex social one, not a reductionist anti-vax fear mongering horror story,” Allen wrote in an email.

From Seattle Times