Simplicity

A Literary Article

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As a former engineer, a maxim of that craft has been KISS, meaning keep it simple stupid. For most of my life, I've avoided such heresy. "My brain is complicated," I forced myself to reason.
"No one can understand me or my works." I never stopped to question why I should feel that way, nor did I recognize the same attitude in others. In fact, it was this thinking that influenced me in the first place when I was very young, too young to apply logic to its foolish premise. And by the time I was older and wise enough to do something about it, the reasoning was ingrained. It took the prospect of death to remove the curtain of ignorance.

Anyone approaching the end of their circle, filling in the last arcs, tends to think in simplistic terms, if only to relieve themselves of the lifetime burden of interpreting everything in the most intricate ways possible. Our species is conditioned at birth to assign

complexities to our experiences, probably to make us feel more significant and important in an ill-defined, hard-to-fathom universe. Our senses are colored by the interpretations, biases and misunderstandings of others, all of which combine to teach us how to think, regardless of logic.

We can only use our five senses to define our experiences, for that is the rule of empirical science. Once an initial thing is learned fire burns the skin; purple people are bad it forms the basis for subsequent learning. Although it is true that many older people

think in very obtuse and complex ways, all such futility stems from alleged knowledge learned at an early age. We learn the critical process of translating sensed data to our brain by interpretation . . . and move to the next. All the initial data become building blocks.

Yet the universe, in spite of the macrocosmic, microscosmic terms we apply to it, is quite simple and a very good teacher. It seems the more civilized we are, the more we err by pursuing the intangible. Primitive societies tend to be much happier and content with their lives than those raised in modern cultures. Civilized man observes the homing pigeon, captures millions of them for study in order to determine how they home in on a site, kills them all in a vain attempt to find chemical explanations for their unique behavior,

does not replace the birds, and makes them extinct. Primitive man observes the birds, makes use of them as messengers and raises their families.

The lessons of the universe are not difficult to comprehend for they are presented as opposites. There is void and filled space, moving and still, illumination and darkness, weight and weightlessness. No interpretations, ethical reasoning or judgements are required. This type of instruction clarifies the reason for our own existence, at least in human terms. We love or do not, the prerequisite of which is love thyself. There might be

more, but that is all we know for sure. Simple, isn't it?

Oh, there is that pesky god-thing always thrown around to make the most simple statement extremely confusing. What does the universe say about that? There is only one of everything. No such thing as a two. Ergo, one god. But man comes along and makes

that complicated by saying, "If there is one of everything, there must also be an absence of one; a zero; a devil. That is a binary system, ergo a two." No. That is flawed reasoning. It is simply another opposite, like magnetism and its absence.

You could ask, "Where does one come from?" That is reasonable. The answer, of course, is simple. We are at least thought, proven by the fact that people think, even when

their bodies no longer function. We, as a one, as a thought, must come from another thought. Like begets like. Caterpillars do not make whales. It may be a superior thought, the god-principle, or not. That is an unknown that is unlikely to be answered by an

empirical system. We can't eviscerate and dissect that concept for comprehension. We'll just have to find out for ourselves, won't we? That is the simple way, the primitive way, the only way that works for sure. Ergo cogito sum. I think, therefore, I am. It is enough to know that. Most people avoid such simplicity as though it carries a plague.

Then, there are those millions of stories and poems written by thinkers who have been misguided by so many other misguided, suffering people. "I may be a minority of one," said the philosopher,
"but the truth is still the truth." There are only two stories: making babies or not. You can extend that in many ways by leaving people alone to live their lives; making war on them, controlling and dominating, taking what they have etc. But it all boils down to those two stories.

If you apply simplicity to your own life, you just might find yourself becoming stronger, able to accept the ruinous logic of people who do not know you and have no inclination to try. That is, allowing others to be stupid without emulating them. Reacting

poorly, excitedly, to the misjudgements of others, serves no purpose when it comes to you, not even when it affects you physically. Science says, "Matter cannot be destroyed." The

universe agrees. So, why not be simple and happy about it for the short time we are here? And, if you happen to be a writer like me, perhaps another baby might do the trick.

W. A. Rieser




Simplicity A Literary Article
		back


	As a former engineer, a maxim of that craft has been KISS, meaning keep it simple stupid. For most of my life, I've avoided such heresy. "My brain is complicated," I forced myself to reason. "No one can understand me or my works." I never stopped to question why I should feel that way, nor did I recognize the same attitude in others. In fact, it was this thinking that influenced me in the first place when I was very young, too young to apply logic to its foolish premise. And by the time I was older and wise enough to do something about it, the reasoning was ingrained. It took the prospect of death to remove the curtain of ignorance. Anyone approaching the end of their circle, filling in the last arcs, tends to think in simplistic terms, if only to relieve themselves of the lifetime burden of interpreting everything in the most intricate ways possible. Our species is conditioned at birth to assign complexities to our experiences, probably to make us feel more significant and important in an ill-defined, hard-to-fathom universe. Our senses are colored by the interpretations, biases and misunderstandings of others, all of which combine to teach us how to think, regardless of logic. We can only use our five senses to define our experiences, for that is the rule of empirical science. Once an initial thing is learned fire burns the skin; purple people are bad it forms the basis for subsequent learning. Although it is true that many older people think in very obtuse and complex ways, all such futility stems from alleged knowledge learned at an early age. We learn the critical process of translating sensed data to our brain by interpretation . . . and move to the next. All the initial data become building blocks. Yet the universe, in spite of the macrocosmic, microscosmic terms we apply to it, is quite simple and a very good teacher. It seems the more civilized we are, the more we err by pursuing the intangible. Primitive societies tend to be much happier and content with their lives than those raised in modern cultures. Civilized man observes the homing pigeon, captures millions of them for study in order to determine how they home in on a site, kills them all in a vain attempt to find chemical explanations for their unique behavior, does not replace the birds, and makes them extinct. Primitive man observes the birds, makes use of them as messengers and raises their families. The lessons of the universe are not difficult to comprehend for they are presented as opposites. There is void and filled space, moving and still, illumination and darkness, weight and weightlessness. No interpretations, ethical reasoning or judgements are required. This type of instruction clarifies the reason for our own existence, at least in human terms. We love or do not, the prerequisite of which is love thyself. There might be more, but that is all we know for sure. Simple, isn't it? Oh, there is that pesky god-thing always thrown around to make the most simple statement extremely confusing. What does the universe say about that? There is only one of everything. No such thing as a two. Ergo, one god. But man comes along and makes that complicated by saying, "If there is one of everything, there must also be an absence of one; a zero; a devil. That is a binary system, ergo a two." No. That is flawed reasoning. It is simply another opposite, like magnetism and its absence. You could ask, "Where does one come from?" That is reasonable. The answer, of course, is simple. We are at least thought, proven by the fact that people think, even when their bodies no longer function. We, as a one, as a thought, must come from another thought. Like begets like. Caterpillars do not make whales. It may be a superior thought, the god-principle, or not. That is an unknown that is unlikely to be answered by an empirical system. We can't eviscerate and dissect that concept for comprehension. We'll just have to find out for ourselves, won't we? That is the simple way, the primitive way, the only way that works for sure. Ergo cogito sum. I think, therefore, I am. It is enough to know that. Most people avoid such simplicity as though it carries a plague. Then, there are those millions of stories and poems written by thinkers who have been misguided by so many other misguided, suffering people. "I may be a minority of one," said the philosopher, "but the truth is still the truth." There are only two stories: making babies or not. You can extend that in many ways by leaving people alone to live their lives; making war on them, controlling and dominating, taking what they have etc. But it all boils down to those two stories. If you apply simplicity to your own life, you just might find yourself becoming stronger, able to accept the ruinous logic of people who do not know you and have no inclination to try. That is, allowing others to be stupid without emulating them. Reacting poorly, excitedly, to the misjudgements of others, serves no purpose when it comes to you, not even when it affects you physically. Science says, "Matter cannot be destroyed." The universe agrees. So, why not be simple and happy about it for the short time we are here? And, if you happen to be a writer like me, perhaps another baby might do the trick. W. A. Rieser