Reviewing three misstated rules

I have three rules for clear thinking. All are correct interpretations of commonly misstated rules.

1. Ockham DIDN’T say “Simplify.” He said “Don’t make up extra things to argue about.” Reality is complicated! As long as you’re discussing reality without manufacturing talking points, you’re simple enough. Politics and the “social sciences” are nothing but extraneous crap invented to provide fake debates.

2. Murphy DIDN’T say “If anything can go wrong it will.” His point was highly specialized and hugely important for my work in courseware. Murphy was training new workers to take over assembly lines when the experienced workers were drafted in WW2. He was advising other engineers. In designing systems or instructions, don’t test with experienced people, and don’t assume experienced people will be using it. Experts know the ropes and automatically work around a bad interface.

3. Parkinson DID say “Work expands to fill time”, but that wasn’t the main thrust of his book. His BIG law was “Bureaucracies grow.” Agencies are launched to solve a problem. After launch, the only goal is more money and more power. Solving the problem removes the reason for growth, so the agency UNSOLVES the problem to justify growth.