David, what comes to mind for me is I am a tool guy. I can design and build a house, I can design and build a car, and I can fix almost anything (except electronics).
There is always something that needs a tool that I don't have and I will not be tempted to buy a tool I will only use once. This is my home of the elegant solution.
To creatively use the tools and skills one has and overcome the issue is my Ikigai, to remain solution focused. To see the standard practice and find the alternate solution that is effective and inexpensive. Create it.
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.
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.
David, what comes to mind for me is I am a tool guy. I can design and build a house, I can design and build a car, and I can fix almost anything (except electronics).
There is always something that needs a tool that I don't have and I will not be tempted to buy a tool I will only use once. This is my home of the elegant solution.
To creatively use the tools and skills one has and overcome the issue is my Ikigai, to remain solution focused. To see the standard practice and find the alternate solution that is effective and inexpensive. Create it.
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.
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.