"An idiot admires complexity, a genius admires simplicity."

[Prinzip]

I'd like to see the opinions of Off-Topic Philosophers on this based quote.

[Grendalcat]

I've seen plenty of idiots admiring themselves in the mirror.😸

[DarkCrystalMethod]

Originally posted by Grendalcat:

I've seen plenty of idiots admiring themselves in the mirror.😸

I've only seen one in my mirror. Can I borrow yours?

[WarHeRo]

Originally posted by Midori:

what if I admire both

[Basho]

false dilemma, simple as.

[ナルゴ]

Because geniuses are pragmatic. They want the most robust & cost-effective solution to a problem.

Meanwhile those who over-engineer a problem, either want to appear intelligent by showing off their inefficient rube goldberg machine pile of bloat, or they genuinely lack the capacity to come up with the real solution.

[sleeps]

ah yes. terry davis.

[sleeps]

i know where the quote came from but if you ask me, if you work on complex systems, this philosophy helps a lot and most programming legends (or those among cults like doom fans and linux users) agree with that.

but applying it in real life, just take it as more of problem solving thing rather than a general thing.

[SHAZBOT]

this describes me perfectly

[Phirestar]

In terms of video games, I like the definitions that Extra Credits laid out regarding complexity versus depth.

Complexity refers to the numbers of “rules” - controls, mechanics, gameplay systems, etc. - that a player has to learn in order to fully understand how to play a game in its entirety.

Depth is the number of different potential outcomes that be achieved through the interactions between those mechanics and systems.

Games that feature the lowest amount of complexity, with the greatest amount of depth, are often the ones that rise to the top and become the most popular. That’s because complexity acts as a barrier-to-entry for new players, while depth determines how expansive and long-lasting the experience will be.

I think that’s also part of the reason why sequels (and other similar titles belonging to the same genre) are so popular. If you create another game using the same level of complexity as the original, and you don’t change things around so much that it plays completely differently, then the complexity for existing fans basically drops to zero. They will already know how to play the new entry before they’ve even touched it.

[the vampire of time and memory]

my goat has some good points
https://youtu.be/Y7DW0jpw5cA?si=pa1kYTlxLaOyprfr

[Apollo702]

Don't forget the Dunning-Kreuger effect.

The stupid people can think that they are the smart ones and blaze away with simplistic answers.

People who see that the world can be quite complex realize that everything can't be dumbed down to bumper-sticker slogans.

They sound hesitant. They anger others for going into nuance. They can become depressed when realizing that no, life is not so simple after all.

[💥]

“An idiot admires complexity, a genius admires simplicity" -Terry A. Davis

Full quote:

“An idiot admires complexity, a genius admires simplicity, a physicist tries to make it simple, for an idiot anything the more complicated it is the more he will admire it, if you make something so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ he can't understand it he's gonna think you're a god cause you made it so complicated nobody can understand it. That's how they write journals in Academics, they try to make it so complicated people think you're a genius”

https://www.reddit.com/r/quotes/comments/oya2sd/an_idiot_admires_complexity_a_genius_admires/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0qmkQGqpM8