Beauty in simplicity

It is a philosophy that many people espouse, but few seem to manage. It is seem in mathematics, physics, business, politics and the military, even having its own acronym KISS Keep It Simple Stupid, and yet it seems elusive. When it comes to business it should be the first principle hammered home in business school. If there are two ways of doing something, go with the one that requires the least amount of additional effort, and is the least reliant on other factors. It is the same principle that informs Occhams razer, a theory that suggests that when presented with multiple possible solutions, or reasons for something happening you should also go with the one that requires the least amount of other assumptions to be true, until such time as you are proved wrong. It seems pretty straightforward, so why does it tend not to be used as often as it should? Why do people still see UFO's when there are simpler explanations? Why do we still see the face carved on the surface of Mars even though we know it isn't there?

My best guess is that although we profess a desire for simplicity, whether that be a work, or in life, what we secretly crave is drama and difficulty. I can understand this, becuase it does have a tendency to make life rather more interesting than it otherwise might be. By overcomplicating situations we can be justified in feeling stresses and in complaining, and we do as a species tend to enjoy complication. This is not limited to the mass of society, but at all levels, and through all societies. There are of course exceptions, primarily with religious communities such as those found within the catholic faith practicing a monastic tradition, or with the Hindu ascetics or the Buddhist monasteries. This brings up an interesting question in my opinion. Does the need for complication stem from the ego? It can be argued that these religious communities have a similarity that transcends faith based differences in that they practice the subjugation of the ego for the greater good of the community. They do away with materialism in the form of possessions, and with the associated vices of pride and greed.

So does this offer a model on which to move forward as a species? I suspect that the ego is a crucial part of what makes us who we are as a species and has contributed in no small measure to our success at dominating our planet, and there are arguements that ego is still a crucial component of our makeup until such time as we understand completely the universe and our place within it, since it forms part of the drive to exceeed and to improve individually and collectively. It is then perhaps a waiting game, an acceptance that we are as yet unable to achieve large scale simplicity, but that it is something that we should nevertheless aspire to and have as one of our species key goals. Perhaps it is how we will be measured should we ever find more advanced races in the Universe. Not by our level of complexity, as some reasearchers feel, but by our level of simplicity.....