Nature Strive For Simplicity VS Human Strive For Perfection

Nature strives for simplicity. This can be found in various of cases. Some things in nature can look very complex, but if you take a closer look, you will see that nature is doing them in the simplest way possible. Also, in the most efficient way possible, saving energy.

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Nature is the best teacher. And for a reason. Nature and evolution have been around for a lot longer that we have. At least, couple of billion years, so we should always look at nature for lessons. The principle that nature uses are well proven. Not an experimental one.

One of those examples is the bee principle. A bee scouts for a flower and finds one. After finding it, the first time, the bee goes back using the same route as she found it.

Then in the next runs to and back to the flower, she keeps improving the route, shorting it every time. In the end she comes up with a route, that is not the fastest one, not a straight line, but it is good enough. And she will be using this one, for all of the next runs. Simply put, the effort that is needed to find the perfect path, is not worth. So, the bee goes with the closest solution to it.

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Next, if we take a look at a painting of Jackson Pollock – the drip painter. There is an interesting scene in the movie Ex Machina, if you haven’t watch it, you should. In there the experience programmer and AI creator, asks the less experience new programmer, standing in front of a photo of drip painter.

What if Pollock instead of painting without thinking, do the opposite. I can’t paint if unless I know exactly why I’m doing it?

After a while the guy responds. He never would have made a single mark!

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And yes, these shows that if you keep simulating the scenarios, and improving them in your head, they will never be perfect, and you will end up doing nothing.

So, learning by doing is the right way of doing things. Of course, a bit thinking is recommended 😊. When you do something, especially for the first time, it is recommended to do it fast and simple. After that you should keep improving it and keep upgrading it. This is the right way of doing things. Not with thinking and thinking with ages, and then come up with a brilliant solution. No, doing it, seeing your mistake, and after that iterate. Again, and again.

Here it is important not to get afraid of failure. This is obvious. When failure is understood as a part of the learning process it is not scary at all. One should take a reasonable, not emotional approach to failure. See what you have done wrong, and correct it next time. If you don’t succeed next time as well don’t worry. Try again.

After multiple iterations, compare the last result with the first one. You will see that even if the last one is not perfect, but it is much better than the first time. And this is what counts. Progress! Perfection will never be reached, but progress is the king.

Obviously, consistency is very important in this process. And usually it takes time. Nothing happens overnight.

Slow and steady is the best way forward.

All the best.
@dalz