Toni Vogel Carey wonders whether nature loves simplicity.
http://philosophynow.org/issues/81/Pars ... s_possible
Parsimony (In as few words as possible)
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Re: Parsimony (In as few words as possible)
Nature does love simplicity, at its core and in the beginning. But as it's evolved simplicity wasn't an option. Nature has had to compound itself in order to survive and continue.
In business, especially at the beginning, it is good to be parsimonious. It helps keep you in business. An insight into this is an axiom: If you take care of the pennies the dollars or pounds will look after themselves. In other words, parsimony and taking care of the small stuff is the first step on any journey.
There is a saying, Don't sweat the details. But that would be like not taking care of or sweating about the pennies. Before you can have the luxury of not sweating the details you have to make sure the details are first looked after and in place. After a business has taken off and started to succeed then you can stop sweating the details or the pennies, but never take your eye of the ball, as the saying goes.
But there is a balance and nuance essential to business. There is a complementarity involved. For instance, if one remains parsimonious and frugal in business too long one will stifle development and growth. So one has to learn how to keep parsimony in the background while learning to spend and take risks so that the business grows. Nevertheless, parsimony always remains at the core.
If you examine anything there is always a simple, parsimonious beginning, whether in nature or technology. But nature and humans have not been satisfied to remain simple. We've had to spin webs and become complex because that is what keeps us going.
The opposite to parsimony is excess. But parsimony can have its excesses also. Cognitively, if taken to far, parsimony can lead to fundamentalism and extremism as we have seen with religion.
In business, especially at the beginning, it is good to be parsimonious. It helps keep you in business. An insight into this is an axiom: If you take care of the pennies the dollars or pounds will look after themselves. In other words, parsimony and taking care of the small stuff is the first step on any journey.
There is a saying, Don't sweat the details. But that would be like not taking care of or sweating about the pennies. Before you can have the luxury of not sweating the details you have to make sure the details are first looked after and in place. After a business has taken off and started to succeed then you can stop sweating the details or the pennies, but never take your eye of the ball, as the saying goes.
But there is a balance and nuance essential to business. There is a complementarity involved. For instance, if one remains parsimonious and frugal in business too long one will stifle development and growth. So one has to learn how to keep parsimony in the background while learning to spend and take risks so that the business grows. Nevertheless, parsimony always remains at the core.
If you examine anything there is always a simple, parsimonious beginning, whether in nature or technology. But nature and humans have not been satisfied to remain simple. We've had to spin webs and become complex because that is what keeps us going.
The opposite to parsimony is excess. But parsimony can have its excesses also. Cognitively, if taken to far, parsimony can lead to fundamentalism and extremism as we have seen with religion.
Re: Parsimony (In as few words as possible)
I read on article that reminded me about parsimony and frugality of life. The article was about the plethora of graduates in China struggling to find a job.
Life does not make things easy. Nor should it. If life furnished everybody with a job just like that people wouldn't try very hard to excel in order to progress society. Life makes things difficult in order to make people self-reliant and responsible. Without personal struggle society would really suffer from mediocrity and stagnation — this happened under communism, hence its collapse. Thus, life has to be parsimonious and frugal in order to remain fresh and progressive.
Alas, in many areas of life we have become too excessive and expectant of entitlements. That is why we are beginning to see massive cuts in social spending. Otherwise governments will go bankrupt.
Life does not make things easy. Nor should it. If life furnished everybody with a job just like that people wouldn't try very hard to excel in order to progress society. Life makes things difficult in order to make people self-reliant and responsible. Without personal struggle society would really suffer from mediocrity and stagnation — this happened under communism, hence its collapse. Thus, life has to be parsimonious and frugal in order to remain fresh and progressive.
Alas, in many areas of life we have become too excessive and expectant of entitlements. That is why we are beginning to see massive cuts in social spending. Otherwise governments will go bankrupt.