Simplicity - what does it mean? On the one hand, the word is familiar and understandable, and on the other, it has many shades of meaning. What are they? We will talk about this, as well as about the essence of simplicity in our discussion today.
Dictionary Definition
According to one of the dictionary definitions, simplicity is:
- The property of an object or phenomenon corresponding to the adjective "simple." The meanings of this adjective are as follows:
- Affordable, not requiring a lot of effort and time in understanding, fulfilling, describing and solving (Today, students were given an extremely simple task).
- One that does not stand out among others, but is standard, typical, ordinary. (This girl had a simple, but open and pretty face).
- Inexpensive, not having additional functions, accessories, options, as well as spices, ingredients and additional stages of production. (Eugene, having considerable wealth, preferred a hearty meal, but rather simple).
- Not belonging to the privileged sections of society, not possessing authority, not rich. (Despite the sophisticated appearance and bright appearance, Alexander’s conversation made it possible to determine what he came from from a simple family).
- Spoken - about a person who is easy in relationships, in communication, who is open, unsophisticated and not remorseless. (The ease of handling women was very attractive to them in this man).
- Spoken - about a stupid, naive and too gullible person. (Natasha’s gullibility can be described as the proverb “Simplicity is worse than theft”).
Thus, based on these definitions, we can say that in the generalized meaning of "simplicity" is the absence of any complexity in a person, in a phenomenon or object. (The current generation is characterized by a lack of desire for simplicity of life).
Origin
The word “simplicity” originates from the adjective “simple”, whose path to the Russian language begins in the Proto-Slavic (prost), from which, in particular, came
- Old Russian "simple" (simple, open, direct, free);
- Old Slavonic “simple” (simple);
- Bulgarian “simple” (simple, direct);
- Serbo-Croatian “simple” (simple, ingenuous, forgiven);
- Slovenian “pròst" (simple, free, laid-back, ordinary).
Synonyms
Numerous synonyms for the word "simplicity" are, for example,
- Ease.
- Stupidity.
- Modesty.
- Innocence.
- Simple-heartedness.
- Naivety.
- Ease.
- Immediacy.
- Naturalness.
- Availability.
- Looseness.
- Democracy.
- Primitiveness.
- Mediocrity.
- Naturalness.
- Rusticity.
- Unpretentiousness.
- Ingenuousness.
- Kindness.
Phraseologisms
Here are a number of phraseological units and stable phrases with the words "simplicity" and "simple", which, like synonyms, are quite numerous.
- The simplicity of clothing.
- Ease of circumvention.
- The simplicity of life.
- The simplicity of manners.
- Easy machine control.
- The simplicity of the solution.
- Ease of use.
- Holy simplicity.
- By simplicity of soul.
- Prime number.
- A simple pencil.
- The simple way.
- Simple substance.
- Simple cycle.
Statements
And you can also give a lot of statements related to simplicity, the meaning of some of them boils down to the following:
- The advantage of simplicity is to achieve maximum effect with a minimum of funds. (K. Cavana).
- Everything needs to be done as simple as possible, but not simpler. (A. Einstein).
- Beauty, simplicity and truth always go side by side, so the truth can always be recognized by its simplicity and beauty. (R. Feynman).
- Our life is completely clogged with details: simpler, easier. (G. Toro).
- What is difficult to describe is difficult to use. (Unknown).
Essentialism. The path to simplicity
Under this title, in 2014, a book was published by Greg McKeon, a writer and business coach, a specialist in essentialism. Recall that under this concept is meant a philosophical and theoretical setting, a concept whose characteristic is as follows. She says that things have an unchanging set of properties and qualities, a certain true nature, deep reality. At the same time, it is impossible to see it directly, and it is this hidden essence that is important for a person.
McKeon is the author of books on business, design and leadership, has degrees - a bachelor of communications and a master of business administration. He wrote a book about the path to simplicity for those people who are mired in the daily bustle, who lack the time for the most important thing. He offers a new approach to getting out of such a situation (essentialist), which, in his opinion, will allow a person, doing less, to do better, and in many areas of his life.
In his book, the author explains in detail the essence of essentialism, suggests that you can not spray on a lot of activities, but you need to focus on the main thing. He tells you how to choose this is important, and how best to deal with it.
Occam's razor
The methodological principle called the Occam’s razor has the most direct relation to simplicity and simplification. He bears the name of an English Franciscan monk (13-14 centuries), a philosopher, William of Occam (County Surrey in southern England). Occam himself formulated this principle in approximately the following way.
He said: "What can be done on the basis of fewer assumptions does not need to be done on the basis of more." In a nutshell, this principle reads: “There is no need to multiply things unnecessarily.”
Modern understanding
Modern science as Occam’s razor, as a rule, understands the general principle, which states that if there are several explanations for any phenomenon - logically consistent and explaining it equally successfully - then the shortest of all should be considered true. In this case, a reservation is always made: ceteris paribus.
The content of this formulation boils down to the fact that in order to explain a new phenomenon, previously unknown laws should not be introduced if the phenomenon is to be fully explained by old principles. Thus, the fundamental essence of Occam's razor gives preference to the simplicity of formulations.
In this case, it is necessary to pay attention to such revolutions used above as: “equally successful”, “ceteris paribus” and “exhaustive”. A simple explanation is preferred only in a situation where it sheds light on an object or person no less accurately than a more complex one. And at the same time, the entire array of observations available at the moment is taken into account. That is, if there are no objective grounds for preferring a simple explanation of a more complex one.
As one of the most famous examples of the use of the described principle is the following. Emperor Napoleon asked a physicist and mathematician Laplace a question about his theory explaining the emergence of the solar system. Napoleon asked why the scientist never mentioned God in his work, while at Lagrange his name is constantly repeated. To this, Laplace said that he did not need such a hypothesis.