Oh, I know the type. They’re people who think that every complex problem has a simple answer, like the whole world is one big Gordian knot and their truth-bombs are the sword. They’re usually people over a certain age.
The correct term, I think, is “blinkered”. Their own point of view is the only point of view they can grasp. If something isn’t a problem for them, it isn’t a problem for anyone.
I’ve read “MOTO” for Master of the Obvious. As kids, people who said things like that were greeted with “DUUUHHHHHHHHH!”
The Onion expertly skewered this kind of advice 24 years ago:
My occasional response to whining about “I don’t wanna” is “then don’t.” Is that speaking the outcome? It’s my philosophy for life, and I would probably make a poor Buddhist.
“I don’t wanna”
“then don’t”
“but I’ll get in trouble, and I don’t want that”
“then do it”
Or if a kid asks for help with a homework problem, I would never just give them the answer. Is there a word for a person who gives you the answer directly?
To the OP, I submit the words economical, minimalist, or perhaps more appropriate, glib.
~Max
Tautologism, maybe? Person would be a tautologist.
A tautology is where the “cause” and “effect” are the same, for example: “Chicago is favored to win because people think they are the better team”. Or, you know, “the First Rule of Tautology Club is the first rule of Tautology Club”. (xkcd: Honor Societies)
#ISWYDT
How about ‘callous’?
Okay, I know I’ll get my ass reamed for this:
The behavior of telling you to change your thinking/feeling/attitude by simply changing your thinking/feeling/attitude is called Cognitive Behavior Therapy. And yes, many people swear by it and insist it has changed their lives, thus the ass-reaming I expect to get for this. More power to those people, I guess.
But, since we’re all into tautologies here, let’s just say that CBT is the kind of thing that helps the kind of people that are helped by that kind of thing.
According to Basil Fawlty, “stating the bleeding obvious”.
Well… It rather implies that there is some action or process that would resolve the situation, whereas what we’re discussing is pointless and ineffective “advice”.
“Glib” is the most concise suggestion so far, I think. If you want a posher word, try “platitudinous”, or “simplistic/simplism”.
If you just give people advice, this is often called “being directive”, so we could add a pejorative adjective and call it something like “being obliviously directive”.
Nincompoop/nincompoopish, hypocrite/hypocrisy, above it all, empathy free, mis-directive, stupid on the face of it, presumptive, ignorant, concisely ignorant, unfriendly, audio disabled, Trumpish, Mr. Big,
Ms Big, bad example, someone to avoid, afraid of getting close, close(d) minded, thoughtless, tactless,
useless, rude, on a soap box, insecure, personal messiah, selfish and I’ll finish it up with ‘specious’.
This appears to be similar to the original meaning of “begging the question”.
As old as the Bible.
James 2:15-16. A passage warning against hiding behind empty faith to avoid the moral obligation of offering effective help.
No good word in mind for the phenomenon, but it’s an old problem.
Any answer containing the word " just" should NOT be given.
So… Just Don’t Do It…?
This is the truth as I see it.
I have directly told people to not use the word “just” in responding when I ask for help (post brain injury, so have to ask for help a fair bit. If it was “just”, I wouldn’t be asking for help, now would I?). Damnit!
Even the right-minded people have to be reminded to not use “just do…”. The best ones actually manage to and I love them for it.
If I’ve asked for assistance, I have already tried to “just…”.
I’m no expert, but I don’t think their advise is “just don’t be anxious.” I think they help the people find triggers and strategies.
(On a tangent, this discussion of “just” reminds me of people who say “All I want is…”)
It is a stretch, but…New World Encyclopedia:“Bridge of Asses or Pons Asinorum (Latin for “Bridge of Asses”) is a term used to refer to a problem that severely tests the ability of an inexperienced person , and therefore separates the serious and dedicated students from the ‘asses’.”
So a person who throws out a simplistic, unworkable solution might be a “simplissimus asinorum”.
(Gee, I hope that proposing this solution doesn’t make me one.)