simplicity

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Simplicity , also unpretentiousness , is a state that is characterized by the fact that only a few factors contribute to its creation or existence, and by the fact that the interplay of these factors can be described by only a few rules . So simplicity is the opposite of complexity . In scientific logic , the principle applies to explain a given state of affairs with as few elements as possible, thus avoiding unnecessarily complex causal chains as much as possible ( Ockham's razor ). On the other hand, simplification can also lead to wrong conceptions of facts, which is why they can also be used manipulatively or for propaganda purposes. Simplification can also have didactic reasons to make it easier to understand.

rating

Simplicity can be rated both positively and negatively.

Simplicity is worth striving for when as much as possible can be achieved with few resources. Then it is a synonym for minimalism , clarity or simplicity ( less is more ). Ancient natural philosophers demanded that a true theory should not only be beautiful (in the sense of a logical, coherent structure) and good (that is, functionally and concretely feasible), but also simple. Albert Einstein also took this view .

In the musical aesthetics of the pre-classical period , simplicity advanced to the compositional ideal that replaced the overloaded baroque style. The eight-bar period became the basic unit of the compositional setting . In song creation , too , simplicity became an ideal, based on simply structured folk songs . The New Simplicity is a vague collective term for compositions since the late 1970s that are no longer based on the artificial complexity of twelve-tone music , serialism and atonality .

Modern art paintings are just as often characterized by a simple structure. Here, simplicity is seen as aesthetic (e.g. composition of large, single-colored squares for Mark Rothko ).

Furthermore, many modern people strive for simplicity in the way of life , e.g. B. when eating or on vacation as a contrast to modern everyday and professional life, which is often perceived as confusing and complex.

On the other hand, simplicity is considered bad when complexity is the ideal in a certain area . A simple person may be perceived by others as uninteresting or even stupid .

In education, simplicity is seen as a necessary condition for understanding, but also as an obstacle on the way to an appropriate understanding.

See also

literature

  • Claudia Schmölders: Simplicity, Naivety, Simplicity - Studies of Aesthetic Terminology in France and Germany, 1674 - 1771 . 1974, urn : nbn: de: kobv: 11-100184000 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Simplicity  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wiktionary: Simplicity  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. Leslie P. Steffe, Jerry Gale: Constructivism in Education . Routledge, 2012, ISBN 978-1-136-47608-2 ( com.ph [accessed April 18, 2019]).