Comments on: A little simplicity goes a long way http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/09/a-little-simplicity-goes-a-long-way/ The blog of John D. Cook Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:42:11 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: human mathematics http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/09/a-little-simplicity-goes-a-long-way/comment-page-1/#comment-136236 human mathematics Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:32:04 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/09/a-little-simplicity-goes-a-long-way/#comment-136236 What if the ordina represents the choice variable? It would make more sense to me that one acts on perceived complexity. Then, reducing perceived complexity would not do much to reduce actual complexity, but could shift one's mind to a C state (not shown on the graph). What if the ordina represents the choice variable? It would make more sense to me that one acts on perceived complexity.

Then, reducing perceived complexity would not do much to reduce actual complexity, but could shift one’s mind to a C state (not shown on the graph).

]]> By: Reducing friction and Scriptogram’s new text editor « ben tsai http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/09/a-little-simplicity-goes-a-long-way/comment-page-1/#comment-132606 Reducing friction and Scriptogram’s new text editor « ben tsai Mon, 23 Jan 2012 07:32:06 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/09/a-little-simplicity-goes-a-long-way/#comment-132606 [...] But what this feature does is reduce the friction of writing posts even more, and that is a powerful idea. Even though the text editor is fairly bare bones (no support for links, no HTML preview, no auto-save), it eliminates the overhead of navigating the file system, creating and naming a new text file, and typing in the proper header. John D. Cook wrote a post explaining this concept that a little simplicity goes a long way: [...] [...] But what this feature does is reduce the friction of writing posts even more, and that is a powerful idea. Even though the text editor is fairly bare bones (no support for links, no HTML preview, no auto-save), it eliminates the overhead of navigating the file system, creating and naming a new text file, and typing in the proper header. John D. Cook wrote a post explaining this concept that a little simplicity goes a long way: [...]

]]> By: Compound complexity — The Endeavour http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/09/a-little-simplicity-goes-a-long-way/comment-page-1/#comment-103369 Compound complexity — The Endeavour Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:14:22 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/09/a-little-simplicity-goes-a-long-way/#comment-103369 [...] A little simplification goes a long way ? X [...] [...] A little simplification goes a long way ? X [...]

]]> By: Mental context switches are evil — The Endeavour http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/09/a-little-simplicity-goes-a-long-way/comment-page-1/#comment-87007 Mental context switches are evil — The Endeavour Thu, 09 Jun 2011 12:13:22 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/09/a-little-simplicity-goes-a-long-way/#comment-87007 [...] language fatigue A little simplicity goes a long way ? [...] [...] language fatigue A little simplicity goes a long way ? [...]

]]> By: Jason Baker http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/09/a-little-simplicity-goes-a-long-way/comment-page-1/#comment-50460 Jason Baker Tue, 02 Nov 2010 23:53:26 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/09/a-little-simplicity-goes-a-long-way/#comment-50460 You know, if there's one thing that's always annoyed me, it's hearing "This isn't *that* complex." Yeah, by itself it isn't, but complexity adds up very quickly. Glad to see there's someone that agrees with me. You know, if there’s one thing that’s always annoyed me, it’s hearing “This isn’t *that* complex.”

Yeah, by itself it isn’t, but complexity adds up very quickly. Glad to see there’s someone that agrees with me.

]]> By: Mathematically correct but psychologically wrong — The Endeavour http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/09/a-little-simplicity-goes-a-long-way/comment-page-1/#comment-50401 Mathematically correct but psychologically wrong — The Endeavour Tue, 02 Nov 2010 13:27:43 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/09/a-little-simplicity-goes-a-long-way/#comment-50401 [...] A little simplicity goes a long way Acknowledging problems versus solving problems ? X [...] [...] A little simplicity goes a long way Acknowledging problems versus solving problems ? X [...]

]]> By: bart raguso http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/09/a-little-simplicity-goes-a-long-way/comment-page-1/#comment-11801 bart raguso Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:21:39 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/09/a-little-simplicity-goes-a-long-way/#comment-11801 I guess what you are saying is that we are not omnipotent, that we have limits to our ability, and wisdom suggests we know how much is enough. I think it is a keen observation to work within our tolerance level; a dull knife is dangerous. Your remarks also imply but do not implicitly state that in order to work we must maintain a calm demeanor, there is an emotional component to everything we do. For a rationalist programmer, you have a marvelous outlook on staying whole. I would suggest that multi-tasking is a myth and until we get a lot more humble about a lot of things we will continue to be fubar. I guess what you are saying is that we are not omnipotent, that we have limits to our ability, and wisdom suggests we know how much is enough. I think it is a keen observation to work within our tolerance level; a dull knife is dangerous. Your remarks also imply but do not implicitly state that in order to work we must maintain a calm demeanor, there is an emotional component to everything we do.
For a rationalist programmer, you have a marvelous outlook on staying whole. I would suggest that multi-tasking is a myth and until we get a lot more humble about a lot of things we will continue to be fubar.

]]> By: nick senofsky http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/09/a-little-simplicity-goes-a-long-way/comment-page-1/#comment-159 nick senofsky Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:25:25 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/09/a-little-simplicity-goes-a-long-way/#comment-159 John, Great little article. I agree. This is why in GTD the author tries to get the reader to break a project out into the next 3 steps. You can't "do" a project, you can only do steps of a project until all the steps are done and then the project is complete. I believe that is more than semantics. It is your idea above of reducing complexity by taking a complex project and making it simplier by focusing on the next few steps. John,
Great little article. I agree. This is why in GTD the author tries to get the reader to break a project out into the next 3 steps. You can’t “do” a project, you can only do steps of a project until all the steps are done and then the project is complete. I believe that is more than semantics. It is your idea above of reducing complexity by taking a complex project and making it simplier by focusing on the next few steps.

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