Why Don’t We Want To Believe That Everything Is Really Simple?
Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler. – Albert Einstein, world renowned theoretical physicist who at the age of 16 first performed his famous thought experiment visualizing himself traveling alongside a beam of light.
In the 14th century the English logician William of Ockham founded the principle that states the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating those that make no difference in the observable predictions of the explanatory hypothesis or theory…in ‘simple terms’…all other things equal, the simplest solution is the best! So think about that for a minute…have you ever watched a murder mystery and tried desperately to figure out in some complicated way “who done it” only to find out it was the obvious choice. I think the writers of these shows just toy with us knowing all the while that humans have this need to over think and complicate everything. We can’t get out of our own way! Why?
See the problem is that we have the ability to reason and be a thinker, so ironically, that which puts us at the top of the food chain is our very own Achilles heel! The root of this problem seems to lay hidden in the depths of our own insecurities. We have an unbelievable desire to appear smart, but instead of engaging in productive conversation with other people we shrink in embarrassment because what if we say something that is wrong? What if we look stupid? What if the other person laughs at us? Sound a bit neurotic…because it is? The very fact that we are ‘smart’ leads to our own paralysis because we get caught up in over thinking EVERYTHING! I would even argue that this is the foundation for almost all our fears. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not suggesting that you turn your brain off and run headlong into disaster throwing all caution to the wind; but I am definitely saying that we need to use Ockham’s razor as a thinking tool to cut through the nonsensical mental rantings about why we can’t do something or why we can’t figure it out!
Have you ever noticed how some seemingly stupid people have accomplished so much? As you sit in your personal jail grumbling “how does an idiot like that have so much more than I do?” Well maybe the ‘idiot part’ is a clue? I would argue that more simple minded people do in fact achieve more because they more easily see the simple facts of life…maybe smart is actually not the greatest trait. Ever hear of somebody that has multiple degrees and is penniless? So what’s the point? Stop over thinking things! Your gut is the area of the body that is the “simplicity recognition” center that is more often than not being high jacked by the “brain gremlins” that mess with the communication pathway between the brain and the gut. I am a fan of “the first instinct theory” which has an alarm system in your belly. So before you go mad over thinking your life, take a minute to look for the most simple solution and go with it! Always remember to Keep It Simple Stupid!
