Maeda's SIMPLICITY

Less is Greater Than Zero

I sit on a cramped shuttle flight to Washington, DC. The fellow in front of me reclines. He wears a fancy set of collapsible headphones that rest flush to his balding head. The thin plastic supporting band of the headphones is only a millimeter thick. He is appropriately aerodynamic as I see very little possible wind resistance occurring over the smooth curve of his head as it passes over the slim bump of the headphones.

He reclines further. My field of vision is now dominated by the roundness and awkwardly fuzzy sphere of flesh at rest. Most certainly, the gentleman in front of me feels totally calm and in repose. Little does he know that only one foot behind him, I sit here nervously ... praying that he will unrecline so that I can restore my standard level of visual comfort.

Having less hair is certainly better than having more. The time to dry your hair is lessened. The amount of shampoo you require is minimized. The level of concern you have for 'messing up' your hair in the middle of a rainstorm is nominal. The less there is, the less there is to worry about. Of course I'm not advocating that everyone shave all of their hair off. Although I must admit that I prescribe to the crewcut school of hair styles ...

There is an important difference between zero, a little more than zero, more than zero, and much more than zero. Simplicity is not about living at the poles of simple versus complex. It is not about being zero or none. Instead, it is about some. Which brings me to the Tenth Law of simplicity:

A glass of water left almost empty will evaporate to nothing more quickly than a glass that is full. As fast as momentum can build, momentum can also quickly dissipate. At the extreme, anorexia claims lives daily by pushing the mind to seek the body's point of starvation. Having overcome an eating disorder as a child, I have a sense for the meaningless quest for less that should always be avoided. As is said in all religions and ancient teaching, in all things, balance is critical.

There is an equilibrium point between simple and complex that does not necessarily lie halfway between the two poles. In fact, there are many such points that exist along the continuum. In the way of the once popular Pokémon adventures, "Gotta catch 'em all!"