monocausotaxophilia

Definitions

The tendency to explain everything as based on a single cause.

uncountable

Examples

“There is increasing evidence (Levy 1974, 1984, forthcoming) that it is the exchange⟳ of information between right-brain and left-brain modes which constitutes what various researchers have⟳ called the human “cognitive imperative, "the 'aha' or 'eureka' moment, monocausotaxophilia, "or the "what is it" syndrome: the human capacity to make⟳ sense⟳ of the world.”

“One might argue⟳ that storytelling itself is the answer⟳ arrived at by epic—but this would be to fall⟳ into the monocausotaxophilia—my friend Ernst Pöppel's term for the love⟳ of single causes that explain⟳ everything—that is the temptation of science.”

“Don't think⟳ that the Gini coefficient alone will describe⟳ the situation, however; this would be succumbing to monocausotaxophilia, the love⟳ of single ideas that explain⟳ everything, one of humanity's most common cognitive errors.”

CEFR level