The Evolution of Simplicity

[Ego]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/opini ... icity.html


Today’s simplicity movements are also not as philosophically explicit as older ones. The Puritans were stripping away the material for a closer contact with God. Thoreau was stripping away on behalf of a radical philosophy. It’s easy to see what today’s simplifiers are throwing away; it’s not always clear what they are for. It’s not always explicit what rightly directed life they envision.

There’s a whiff of the haute bourgeoisie ethos here — that simplification is not really spiritual or antimaterialism; just a more refined, organic, locally grown and morally status-building form of materialism.

Today’s simplicity movements are also not as philosophically explicit as older ones. The Puritans were stripping away the material for a closer contact with God. Thoreau was stripping away on behalf of a radical philosophy. It’s easy to see what today’s simplifiers are throwing away; it’s not always clear what they are for. It’s not always explicit what rightly directed life they envision.

[Chad]

While, there are obviously some negative aspects of why some people currently simplify, I don't see why the older reasons are any better.

Also, why can't simplification be done just for simplification's sake?

[JL13]

Does laziness count as a worthwhile reason?

[steveo73]

I don't get those comments at all. If anything in today's world there are plenty of reasons to simplify.

[jacob]

I don't detect a pattern of evolution. It seems very cyclical to me. I've previously mentioned how simplicity movements reoccur at the end of just about every Kondratieff cycle. 2000, 1970, 1930, ... , 1870, 1840, ...

Simplicity drives usually happen just after post-economic peak. "We unthinkingly bought too much. Shit failed, let's cut some of the excess off to realign". Realignment happens along the prevalent and concurrent cultural values.

[GandK]

I think a lot of this is a movement away from (the ownership of) physical objects as we all acquire more virtual objects. Think about ebooks, apps, games, etc. Is it really "simplification" if you own the same number of hooseywhatsits you did 25 years ago, but most of them are now invisible?

On a related note, I read an article recently about how the jewelry industry is dying a miserable death because most women would rather have a rose gold iPhone than a rose gold bracelet.

[Chad]

On a related note, I read an article recently about how the jewelry industry is dying a miserable death because most women would rather have a rose gold iPhone than a rose gold bracelet.

De Beers is hurting that's for sure. Not that they don't deserve it for pretending/forcing diamonds to be considered rare/special.

[heyhey]

I never got why diamonds were worth more than other things that look the same.

What is the point of the repetition in the OP?

[Ego]

Funny how I cluttered a post on simplicity. I had intended to post the last paragraph but the Times doesn't play well with copy and paste on a tablet.

In a world of rampant materialism and manifold opportunities, many people these days are apparently learning who they are by choosing what they can do without.

[jennypenny]

Funny how I cluttered a post on simplicity. I had intended to post the last paragraph but the Times doesn't play well with copy and paste on a tablet.

I thought it was just Brooks babbling.


I hate to say this ... but I think part of the current trend towards simplicity, and the movement's sudden endorsement by the powers that be, stems from people being forcibly downsized by the economy. I don't mean what we usually discuss wrt hyper-consumerism turning people off and driving them towards simplicity. I mean a kind of ex post facto rejection of a lifestyle they were unable to attain or sustain. ("I meant to do that.")

[FBeyer]

I hate to say this ... but I think part of the current trend towards simplicity, and the movement's sudden endorsement by the powers that be, stems from people being forcibly downsized...

Just because we all like to point out obvious anecdotal outliers: I actually started deliberate simplicity when I got a paying job and found out that I spent only about 5% of what I earned. I actually wowed to spend my first paycheck on something completely silly, but didn't do it, because I couldn't force myself through it.

I sat down and watched the graph on my savings account grow and grow and thought to myself: maybe I can turn this odd behaviour into a 'thing'.
'turns out I could.

[IlliniDave]

For some contemporary people simplicity goes hand-in-hand with lowering one's footprint on the planet and recognizing future ecological challenges. For some contemporary people simplicity is a reaction to the excessive complexity/pace/connectivity that's ballooned the last 25 years. For some contemporary people simplicity is a reaction to the boom times of the 15-20 years leading up to 2008/9 and/or a recognition of the financial advantages of declining a consumption-based existence. Simplicity and frugality tend to be two sides of the same coin, and so there's always been a simplicity contingent. They are forgotten during the boom times, but I think always there.

None of those reasons are particularly philosophical; to me they seem more practical/pragmatic in nature. All the reasons above have some bearing on me. If anything, practical simplicity has led me to consider certain philosophies (in my case you might call it a Zen-lite outlook that seems to resonate best) rather than a philosophy driving me towards simplicity. The life I envision is one where I am more truly alive an attentive to life as opposed to one where a pathologically overactive/overstimulated mind constantly drags my spirit through the muck.

I would think instances like the occasional religious splinter group or people like Thoreau are not really archetypes of simplicity, but exceptions.

[7Wannabe5]

I have one of the few extant copies of "The Gospel of Simplicity: A Plea for Country Life and Handicrafts" by Godfrey Blount, Simple Life Press 1903 in my personal collection. At that time, the focus of the simplicity movement was the dehumanizing aspects of industrialization which turned people into cogs in a machine rather than independent artisans. So, in a way, it's like if you make yourself into a more complex system then you are less likely to be used as a simple cog in a complicated machine. So, simplicity is not simple. You can't achieve it just by getting rid of stuff or detaching yourself from the grid. If you only do that, then it is highly likely that you will end up just being more dependent on services provided by others rather than stuff. Like you have no need to own a gold-plated toilet bowl plunger if you don't own a toilet or a bathroom or a house, but still your shit is still going to need to be processed.