Comments for Bob Schoultz's Corner

Comment on Simplicity by John Ruzicka

John Ruzicka — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:20:42 +0000

Great thoughts here, Bob (both in the post and subsequent comments). I might add that one needs to seek different perspectives and look outside their own world in order to really gain clarity. It reminds me of the work that we do here at Vistage – a business leader starts with what may sound like a simple problem, but only after extensive analysis and input from their peers do they wade through the complexity to arrive on the other side with greater clarity and a simple commitment to action. Sounds similar to the discussions you lead on the NOLS adventures, in that considering different perspectives can help our own search for simplicity.

Comment on Simplicity by Joe Allen

Joe Allen — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 19:35:28 +0000

Einstein left us another quote that fits nicely with this piece, and even more so after the last comment about raising children:

“If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.”

As I try to explain the universe and all things in it to my six year old, I constantly confront the limits of my own knowledge…it’s great. If I can’t explain something to her without lying or filling in gaps and if it’s a matter humans are capable of understanding, I know I need to study more. But if we can’t know, like her unfair question, “daddy, what is beyond infinity?” Then my B.S. just has to work for now.

Joe

Comment on Simplicity by Rick Rochelle

Rick Rochelle — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 17:25:36 +0000

Bernadette,

Preparation for an expedition in itself creates complexity, including disengaging from everyday life. As Roger Crossland said, “Adults have responsibilities to others.” But if we prepare well (getting to the other side of complexity), we have a chance of knowing something simpler.

There is a small, if somewhat odd, book with a decent reputation in the mountaineering world: Mount Analogue: A Novel of Symbolically Authentic Non-Euclidean Adventures in Mountain Climbing. In the novel, published posthumously in 1952, French surrealist Rene Daumal, described preparing to climb the highest mountain in the world, which is on an island on the other side of the planet.

Perhaps the struggle with complexity leads us to moments of clarity and simplicity—Maslow’s peak moments. Climbing a mountain can be exceedingly complex, but being on the summit, necessarily temporary, can be sublimely simple.

“You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.” —Rene Daumal

Comment on Simplicity by schoultz

schoultz — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 05:39:11 +0000

A great insight. And in raising children – seek simplicity, and distrust it!

Comment on Simplicity by schoultz

schoultz — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 05:37:41 +0000

Jenn – you bring up an interesting point. “out of the mouths of babes…” or “the fool on the hill..” are metaphors for people who have insight and wisdom that those of us stuck in complexity often don’t get. How is one to know whether a simple statement, like ‘all you need is love…’ is coming from a naïve, inexperienced, why-can’t-we-all-just-get-along perspective, or from Mother Theresa. The words may be the same, but certainly the meaning behind them is different. Nietzsche once said that you can’t understand the philosophy, unless you know the philosopher. Speaks to your point. Words alone, especially when we seek simplicity in expressing ourselves, are very much open to misinterpretation and misunderstanding. Take a look at the aphorisms in the previous blog – wise and insightful to some, complete nonsense to others. Don’t worry! Be Happy! Bob

Comment on Simplicity by Frank

Frank — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 05:37:26 +0000

Life was simple until I had children. My simple answer to your insightful post.

Thanks Bob

Frank

Comment on Simplicity by Jenn Stillings

Jenn Stillings — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 03:00:15 +0000

Bob, this thread is intriguing to me. It reminds me of an assessment I took a few years ago that involved sentence stem completion. I found that the several short and direct answers I gave were downgraded as lower level thinking (seemingly on this side of complexity), when in fact they represented a deep level of internal wrestling and felt personally profound (on the other side of complexity, perhaps). It was infuriating to have my “simple but personally meaningful” answers translated to be “simple minded.” Such a powerful distinction! Perhaps we need a different word to describe this simplicity…is it about “elegance” or “clarity?” It seems to me that there is a certain level of “ego” involved in managing the distinction, and until we can separate ourselves from it, we are at risk of misunderstanding which side of complexity a person is on.

Comment on Simplicity by Bernadette

Bernadette — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 01:05:58 +0000

I can’t wait to sit down at camp and discuss these things with you and the other campers. Simplicity is the holy grail for me. It is capturing complexity briefly. So hard to attain in language, easier in music or math. I am with Leonardo. Darn do I admire that fellow. Did you know he made the Fibonacci code part of the Mona Lisa painting? Simplicity is a contradiction as life is complex. But through a process of abstraction, you can get to its essence. Maybe we will find it in Lander, for a moment or so. Our best bet is to find it in the oh so complex and yet so simple nature..

Comment on Simplicity by schoultz

schoultz — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 23:56:46 +0000

Thanks Henry – This is the philosopher’s holy grail – and it applies to so much else that we do. I remember trying to understand Wittgenstein’s phenomenology and struggling to find the simplicity on the other side of complexity. You remind me of Occam’s razor which states the imperative to move toward simplicity – reminding me again of Einstein’s “Make things as simple as possible, but no simpler!”

You might also recall the scene in City Slickers in which Jack Palance holds up the one finger (not the middle finger) to Billy Chrystal and says “One thing, just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don’t mean shit.” Always fun to review – at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4CvFWCULuI Thanks for your insights.. Bob

Comment on Simplicity by Henry Doss

Henry Doss — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 23:22:20 +0000

Wittgenstein, I think, best exemplified what Bob is addressing here. W.’s objective was to think as deeply as possible about a fundamental question, and reduce the “answer” to the simplest possible statement. Similarly, William of Occam called on us to desert the complex in favor of the less-complex. The presence of un-needed or redundant complexity is artifice. Less is more. The answer to various questions may indeed be complex, but that is more a function of our lack of ability to simplify further, not that a simpler answer or approach is preferable. Nice piece, Bob!