Do simple models lead to generality in ecology?

•The conventional view of models in ecology is that simple models are more general than complex models.•We explain why this view might have become established historically and explore what is meant by simplicity, generality, and complexity in models.•We challenge the heuristic that simple models are inevitably more general than are complex models and show that it is usually complex models that are more general, especially when models are tested against data.•We suggest that there are more productive roads to achieving generality than simplification and further suggest that the preference for simple models has limited progress in ecology. Modellers of biological, ecological, and environmental systems cannot take for granted the maxim ‘simple means general means good’. We argue here that viewing simple models as the main way to achieve generality may be an obstacle to the progress of ecological research. We show how complex models can be both desirable and general, and how simple and complex models can be linked together to produce broad-scale and predictive understanding of biological systems.