On the cost of elegance

"In character, in manner, in style, in all the things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
———————————————————————————————————
Prof T: “Hey! Did you find an apartment you like?”

Prof. C: ”Well, I've found several, but they are all well out of my price range.”

Prof. T: ”What exactly are you looking for?”

Prof. C: ”Elegance.”

Prof. T: ”Ah, well, elegance will cost you; it always does :-).”

Prof. C: ”Tell me about it :-). I know it is because the material they use is very expensive. It looks great and lasts very long. But this explanation in itself is not particularly elegant.”

Prof. T: ”I believe elegance comprises simplicity and order. An elegant system, be it a mathematical model, a computer program, or an apartment, requires its creator/developer/designer to put a lot of effort into the work; effort in terms of battle against entropy. This battle has to be won; or there would be no elegance. When we see such a system, we often fail to realize the extent of the effort put into winning the battle against entropy. It is only natural for every system to eventually surrender to entropy.

Prof. C: ”I guess that fate is inevitable.”

Prof. T: ”Right. All we can do is to prolong the duration of the battle. I think the systems we perceive as elegant are those for which substantially more effort is put into the design and development phase, as compared to the effort required during their operation. For example, a well designed and properly built apartment requires significantly less maintenance effort than one with poor design and/or construction. The same goes for computer programs.”

Prof. C: ”Nice. Interesting interpretation of the second law of thermodynamics. Although, it would be nice if you'd come up with an original idea one of these days ;-).”

Prof. T: ”LOL. I know. But there's still hope. The meaning of the term 'original' might not be as obvious though; most innovations are just combinations of existing ideas, aren't they? ;-)”

Prof. C: ”And welcome to the wonderful world of combinatorics :-).”
———————————————————————————————————
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.” — Ernst F. Schumacher