if someone thinks they need to go "back to basics", does that mean that they,...?

Question

feel they did something wrong and have to correct themselves? and if the basics are so good, why ever move on to more advanced stuff if staying with the advanced stuff eventually gets bad because you have to go back to basics again at some point?

Answer 1

You are somewhat confused about this! They do feel that something is wrong and they have to correct themselves. Before examining the advanced stuff, they go "back to basics" to make certain that area is correct before they get started on something more advanced.



EXAMPLE ONE: Think back to high school math. You supposedly learned "the basics" in grade school but now you are going on to more advanced math such as algebra, geometry and pre-calculus. This doesn't mean that the basics you learned in earlier years are no longer any good. You still have to employ all those basic techniques of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, but now you are expanding upon their use. If you keep coming up with errors in algebra class, it could mean your basic skills need to be reviewed so you "go back to basics." That is why "remedial math" is offered to many incoming college freshmen.



EXAMPLE TWO: The phrase "go back to basics" is frequently used in professional sports, especially football. Even the best pro teams pay a lot of attention to the "basics" of blocking, tackling, passing and catching. As pro playbooks become ever more complex with offensive and defensive formations, a team might not be as effective as they once were. The coaches then say "we have to go back to basics", meaning that the new schemes are very complex and they want to insure that all the basic, less complicated, skills are still being properly addressed. You cannot employ a more complicated scheme without the "basics". It doesn't mean the basics are no longer "any good" or of any use.

Answer 2

why advance things? because there is usually a benefit to the advancement. Nothing in life is certain, though, so despite good intentions the advancement beyond basics can turn out badly. At that point, you can do several things: live with the result, work on correcting the error, abandon all effort, or go back to square one and try again. Sometimes things fail, but the risk of failure is generally not a good excuse for never trying, unless there is no benefit to be gained from the effort. In that case, the risk of a negative result without a risk of a positive result means that any effort is futile (why bother unless you want to fail).

Answer 3

It means the situation is so complex and complicated that it is almost impossible for them to correctly analyze and handle/rectify.