Meaning of 'Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler'
Wish to understand the meaning of Einstein's words:
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.
Solution 1:
It means that one should find the simplest way of explaining or expressing something, that's just short of oversimplifying.
There. I hope I have managed to follow his dictum.
Solution 2:
I think he was saying two things:
- Make sure your statements are true (science).
- Find the simplest human language to describe the thing completely.
If 0 is complicated, 10 is the simplest description, 11 might be the step you are removing information/adding false information to make it "simpler", thereby departing from the underlying truth of what you are trying to describe (and moving from science to fiction).
I think he is saying "10 is as simple as possible, but to go to step 11 you need to make the underlying thing simpler (and in the process factually incorrect)".