I am so glad to hear the happy outcome of the operation and subsequent rehabilitation, David. Those must have been challenging times for the whole family. But what an amazing illustration. We tend to underestimate the power of simplicity.
My parents are stuck in various Kafkaesque situations at the moment, due to complex computer systems stopping them from changing account details remotely. Meant to be helpful but not.
The washing machine and dryer analogy reminds me of Barry Schwartz's TED talk on The Paradox of Choice. TL; DW - more options don't mean more satisfaction, as we tend to assume. They mean the surrender of more possibilities (read: less satisfaction).
I totally get that. My wife has MS, so I do a lot more of the grocery shopping. One time, she asked me to pick up a bottle of Ranch dressing. There were 47 kinds of that one brand alone, including two kinds of Original. How can there be two kinds of Original?!
This is familiar. On one of my early trips to the US after living in Costa Rica for a few years, I stopped into a Target. For context, where we lived in Costa Rica, laundry detergent came in two options: the pink bag or the seafoam bag. Target, on the other hand, had a towering aisle of detergents stacked to the ceiling in technicolor with glitter and fireworks. The rising anxiety was undeniable.
Gee, what I remember is that elegant counted. That was different than other classes, where usually what mattered was getting the right answer. In geometry if there was more than one way, we were supposed to use the elegant way.
"Things should be as simple as possible, but no simpler" strikes me as a rewording of one version of Occam's Razor, expressed as a preference for the simplest explanation possible for the phenomena being explained. I defer to scholars on this, but I imagined Occam's Razor as an ontological principal, more like, "Don't overpopulate your ontology with too many entities."
It is a play on something Einstein is purported to have said, though there is no evidence he said this exact phrase. Certainly aligns with O's Razor. There would be a certain irony in a post on making things simple to overpopulate our ontology. Thanks for the fun thought spark!
So glad you got all the way to “elegant” in your essay. It is a concept that combines both the esthetic and functionality into one. And when one encounters it, it is a breathtaking thing to behold and experience.
I dig this exploration and have read it several times because I enjoyed it so much. I can also relate to wanting to 'buy a tool' and the wonderful creative challenge of making it elegant instead.
I am so glad to hear the happy outcome of the operation and subsequent rehabilitation, David. Those must have been challenging times for the whole family. But what an amazing illustration. We tend to underestimate the power of simplicity.
My parents are stuck in various Kafkaesque situations at the moment, due to complex computer systems stopping them from changing account details remotely. Meant to be helpful but not.
The washing machine and dryer analogy reminds me of Barry Schwartz's TED talk on The Paradox of Choice. TL; DW - more options don't mean more satisfaction, as we tend to assume. They mean the surrender of more possibilities (read: less satisfaction).
https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_the_paradox_of_choice
I totally get that. My wife has MS, so I do a lot more of the grocery shopping. One time, she asked me to pick up a bottle of Ranch dressing. There were 47 kinds of that one brand alone, including two kinds of Original. How can there be two kinds of Original?!
This is familiar. On one of my early trips to the US after living in Costa Rica for a few years, I stopped into a Target. For context, where we lived in Costa Rica, laundry detergent came in two options: the pink bag or the seafoam bag. Target, on the other hand, had a towering aisle of detergents stacked to the ceiling in technicolor with glitter and fireworks. The rising anxiety was undeniable.
Thankfully, I wasn't there to buy detergent.
My HS Geometry teacher loved "elegant" work
Tell me more.
Gee, what I remember is that elegant counted. That was different than other classes, where usually what mattered was getting the right answer. In geometry if there was more than one way, we were supposed to use the elegant way.
I like that!
#himself says his algebra teacher said not to kill ants with sledgehammers, i.e. effective but not elegant
Great post! And pencils are more complex than we think. “I, Pencil” essay: https://cdn.mises.org/I%20Pencil.pdf
This one is excellent ✨
Thank you, my friend. That is high praise from a word wizard like yourself.
“Word wizard” - Ohhhh now you have me, indeed, blushing <3
"Things should be as simple as possible, but no simpler" strikes me as a rewording of one version of Occam's Razor, expressed as a preference for the simplest explanation possible for the phenomena being explained. I defer to scholars on this, but I imagined Occam's Razor as an ontological principal, more like, "Don't overpopulate your ontology with too many entities."
It is a play on something Einstein is purported to have said, though there is no evidence he said this exact phrase. Certainly aligns with O's Razor. There would be a certain irony in a post on making things simple to overpopulate our ontology. Thanks for the fun thought spark!
"Overpopulate" aligns with "complicate," in case I did not make that clear.
Oh yes, I got that from what you wrote.
And now your son can shave with Occam's Razor, or he can use a hugely complicated depilatory routine. Or none, as he prefers. Thanks.
Which is exactly how he does things. 😉
I cannot begin to imagine the anguish of going through that procedure as a parent. You have to be so strong. I’m happy things worked out for your son.
It is a story in and of itself. I almost went that way but it deserves a stand-alone telling.
It would definitely be a great story to tell.
So glad you got all the way to “elegant” in your essay. It is a concept that combines both the esthetic and functionality into one. And when one encounters it, it is a breathtaking thing to behold and experience.
I dig this exploration and have read it several times because I enjoyed it so much. I can also relate to wanting to 'buy a tool' and the wonderful creative challenge of making it elegant instead.