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Simplicity. It is self-explanatory, simple. And yet Leonardo da Vinci states: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” I for one, happen to agree with him. Do you have memories of having to solve pages of a complex algebra equation, all just to find either zero or “1” for an answer? Or simply, infinity? Simply? Maybe a more common example could be the process of organizing a room, or a desk. Whenever I have to organize my space, I have to first create the biggest chaos possible in order to achieve simplicity.

I did a “Maeda Experiment”, and googled “Simplicity” and it turned in 57,300,000 results in 0.07 seconds. Complexity: 52,600,000 results in 0.06 seconds. That looks like a good balance. Having mentioned balance makes my mind wander and think about Taoism, which praises/promotes balance and simplicity. As do other belief systems, it appears:

“Simplicity” on Wikipedia:

“Simplicity is the property of being simple. It usually relates to the burden which a thing puts on someone trying to explain or understand it. Something which is easy to understand or explain is simple, in contrast to something complicated. Alternatively, as Herbert Simon suggested, something is simple or complex depending on the way we choose to describe it.^[1]

In some uses, simplicity can be used to imply beauty, purity or clarity. Simplicity may also be used in a negative connotation to denote a deficit or insufficiency of nuance or complexity of a thing, relative to what is supposed to be required.

The concept of simplicity has been related to truth in the field of epistemology. According to Occam’s razor, all other things being equal, the simplest theory is the most likely to be true. In the context of human lifestyle, simplicity can denote freedom from hardship, effort or confusion. Specifically, it can refer to a simple living lifestyle.

Simplicity is a theme in the Christian religion. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, God is infinitely simple. The Roman Catholic and Anglican religious orders of Franciscans also strive after simplicity. Members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) practice the Testimony of Simplicity, which is the simplifying of one’s life in order to focus on things that are most important and disregard or avoid things that are least important.

In the philosophy of science, simplicity is a meta-scientific criterion by which to evaluate competing theories. See also Occam’s Razor and references. The similar concept of Parsimony is also used in philosophy of science, that is the explanation of a phenomenon which is the least involved is held to have superior value to a more involved one.”

I find it also interesting that simplicity has both a positive and a negative meaning. We don’t find many words as such.

I would also like to embed John Maeda’s TED talk, “John Maeda on the Simple Life” here:

John Maeda is also a member of the “Philips Simplicity Advisory Board.” Finding him on there made me google “Simplicity in Business,” to see which way the trend is going. Not surprisingly (in a good way), the first result was an article in Forbes Magazine titled “In Business, Simplicity is Golden,” by Paul Johnson.

Simplicity, in these results, goes by qualifiers like “The New Competitive Advantage”, “Vital”, or “Business Success Principles: Simplicity is the Difference…”

Then I google “Simplicity in Religion“, “Simplicity in Cultures“, “Simplicity in Life.” None of these results gives a negative connotation of simplicity.

And finally, here are 23,500,000 different visual representations of how we see simplicity as humans. Take your time…

The above presentation slide by Garr Reynolds, on PresentationZen.