The simplest solutions are often the cleverest and they are also usually wrong! So the search for simplicity is guided by what Einstein taught us : “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
Simplicity doesn’t mean lack of complexity – simplicity just means you stop appearing complicated to others; like fractals – which are very complex, yet simple in many ways. The fractals became simpler, not because the complexity goes away, but because one understands the underlying simplicity and the simple self repeating patterns.
For a physicist, understanding the complex is the final achievement; the understanding breeds simplicity and hence the euphamistically, simplicity becomes the final goal.
The most noble, powerful and meaningful wish that one can bestow upon a physicist is that they discover simplicity in their endeavours.
So my new year wish for all visitors is that:
“May you have a simple 2009!”
Happy New Year!
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