Parsimony - The idea that true beauty lies in simplicity.

(www.clickart-gallery.com/help/glossary/glossary.asp)

For me, parsimony is neither always right nor always wrong. It's just a matter of knowing the truth and the usefulness of one thing. But since we're living in such a complicated world, parsimony, therefore, plays quite a big role.

This world is too complex for us to attend to such intricate problems. That's why there are those people who would want to make it simplier for us.

For example, in the world of photography. Of course, almost everyone would want to take beautiful photographs, but not all of us could handle having a dSLR camera, and also understand the complicated camera language like aperture, ISO, vignette and all the whatsoevers. So the camera manufacturers created point-and-shoot models. By making these simple yet worthy cameras, they could not only boost their profit but also encourage individuals to dive into the art of photography because you don't really need a super high tech camera to capture captivating photographs.

That's when parsimony is in good use. It makes life easier for us because not all of us could understand the complicated language of the world. But with experts who could make such complicated things simple, then this world would be quite a better place for us to live in.

But, as all good things go with, there are also some bad sides of parsimony.

One example, which I'm sure most of us could relate to, is when a parent scolds his/her child for failing a test or a subject. The parent would almost automatically say that the child didn't study hard enough, or that the child was always playing and not studying. The parent would immediately have this as the reason/s because this is the reason why most of the other kids are failing. If only the parent would have the time to ask his/her child why he/she failed, then maybe the parent would know that this child has other problems may it be emotional or mental. If the parent would continue blaming the child for the wrong reasons, then we may never know if someday that certain child would become a rebel.

If we always take most simple way or have the most obvious one, then we could never really understand the whole thing. Just like in Mathematics, if we always settle for the easier solution, we could never truly understand how in the world x + y became z. But if we always think of the harder solutions, or the much more complicated explanations, or even the most perfect answer to our problems, then maybe we would overlook the obvious solution.

The line, “Parsimony is the idea that true beauty lies in simplicity”, could be true. But think of this, how could we find such simple beauty when everything around us is complicated?

We could never be too simple, nor be too complex, thus we can never be perfect.




word count : 489 words