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Fools ignore complexity. Pragmatists suffer it. Some can avoid it. Geniuses remove it.
Alan Perlis
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote highlights different attitudes towards complexity in problem-solving.

Alan Perlis suggests that people react to complexity in various ways: fools tend to overlook it, pragmatists endure it, some individuals manage to sidestep it, while geniuses have the ability to simplify and eliminate it. This reflects a deeper understanding of intelligence and problem-solving, indicating that true brilliance lies in the ability to make the complicated seem simple.

Themes

ComplexityProblem-SolvingIntelligenceSimplicityWisdom

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be used in a seminar about effective problem-solving strategies.

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Every program has (at least) two purposes: the one for which it was written and another for which it wasn't.
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In computing, turning the obvious into the useful is a living definition of the word "frustration".
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It is better to have 100 functions operate on one data structure than to have 10 functions operate on 10 data structures.
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A good programming language is a conceptual universe for thinking about programming.
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Every reader should ask himself periodically β€œToward what end, toward what end?”—but do not ask it too often lest you pass up the fun of programming for the constipation of bittersweet philosophy.
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