Class: Who’s right?

For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
 ¢â‚¬” H. L. Mencken

For every problem there is a solution which is simple, obvious, and wrong.”
 ¢â‚¬” Albert Einstein

Versus

Thomas Aquinas: If a thing can be done adequately by means of one, it is superfluous to do it by means of several; for we observe that nature does not employ two instruments where one suffices.

Occam’s Razor: The simplest explanation is usually the correct one. Or: Simpler theories are, other things being equal, generally better than more complex ones. William of Occam: Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity (entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem). Or: pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate (“plurality should not be posited without necessity”).

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Perhaps it’s like asking: which is better, chalk or cheese?

Consider this quote usually attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes:

I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.