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Principle

Simplicity is achieved, not chosen

The simple version is almost always the third or fourth version, not the first.

Year
2025

The first version of a thing tends to be either too simple—because the real complexity has not yet been understood—or too complex—because every fear has been encoded into the design.

The simple version is almost always the third or fourth version: the one made after the problem has been seen clearly enough that you can decide which complexity is essential and which was only a worry. Simplicity is the result of revision under understanding.