S i m p l i c i t y is the state or quality of being simple . It usually relates to the burden which a thing puts on someone trying to explain or understand it . Something which is easy to understand or explain is simple , in contrast to something complicated . Alternatively , as Herbert A . Simon suggested , something is simple or complex depending on the way we choose to describe it ... In some uses , simplicity can be used to imply beauty , purity , or clarity . Simplicity may also be used in a negative connotation to denote a deficit or insufficiency of nuance or complexity of a thing , relative to what is supposed to be required . The concept of simplicity has been related to truth in the field of epistemology . According to Occam ' s razor , all other things being equal , the simplest theory is the most likely to be true . In the context of human lifestyle , simplicity can denote freedom from hardship , effort or confusion . Specifically , it can refer to a simple living lifestyle . Simplicity is a theme in the Christian religion . According to St . Thomas Aquinas , God is infinitely simple . The Roman Catholic and Anglican religious orders of Franciscans also strive after simplicity . Members of the Religious Society of Friends ( Quakers ) practice
the Testimony of Simplicity , which is the simplifying of one ' s life in order to focus on things that are most important and disregard or avoid things that are least important . In the philosophy of science , simplicity is a meta-scientific criterion by which to evaluate competing theories . In this field , a distinction is often made between two senses of simplicity : syntactic simplicity ( the number and complexity of hypotheses ), and ontological simplicity ( the number and complexity of things postulated ). These two aspects of simplicity are often referred to as elegance and parsimony respecti vely .
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