If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough. (Albert Einstein)
Making the simple complicated is commonplace. Making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity. (Charles Mingus)
Kelly Johnson – an aeronautical engineer in the 1950s and 60s – is credited with creating the acronym KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid.
Contrary to some interpretations of the KISS principle, it is not at all about suggesting that people are stupid. It is about simplicity and how simplicity is more functional and useful than complication.
It is said of Johnson that he would give his design engineers a handful of tools and challenge them to design jet aircraft. These planes had to be simple enough to be repaired by the average mechanic, in combat conditions, using only these tools.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, a pilot and the author of The Little Prince – one of the simplest and most profound books ever written – said it best when he said,
It seems that perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
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Trisha,
The little Prince is my favorite book of all time. I have given it to many adults. Sadly, it goes over some of their heads. I think we have to be able to relax our brains enough to think like a child before we can comprehend a lot of things. Like when we show an adult a picture of just the outside view of a boa constrictor who has swallowed an elephant. I’m pretty sure most will only see the hat, even after we explain it.
Check out the site http://www.embracingourdifferences.org/ . I think you’ll enjoy it. I have submitted art for the last three years, but haven’t made it yet. Maybe this year. *grin*
Thank you for this great link! I only had a quick look now, but I’ll sure go back to it later.
Thanks a lot Beth for both the comment and the link. I absolutely love The Little Prince too – possibly my favourite book also, now that I think about it. I have a feeling that this is your lucky year, btw!
One of the best things about KISS is that it’s so easy to remember 😉
I totally agree – is that meta-simplicity????
One of the best things about KISS is that it’s so easy to remember 😉
I totally agree – is that meta-simplicity????
I love this post with its brilliant simplicity . . . nothing left to take away. 😀
Thanks, Nancy – very kind – as always!
I love this post with its brilliant simplicity . . . nothing left to take away. 😀
Thanks, Nancy – very kind – as always!
Superb post! Thanks for the Pingback. I love this paragraph:
“It seems that perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
I like the “there is nothing left to take away.” Life’s depth is revealed through simplicity. 🙂
Thanks for the comment – I agree totally.
I think that our logical minds want to analyze and get to the gritty details of life. When the answers are in the simplicity of everyday living. Minimally simplistic is my favorite form of existence 😉
I agree and even when things are complex – as indeed they sometimes are – we can still look to find the simplest way to explain/understand.
There is another quote attributed to Albert Einstein that offers the balance I think – “Make things as simple as possible, but no simpler.” If understanding – our own and the understanding of others – is our goal then simplicity will always be our preferred methodology.
Thanks for the comment.