KISS principle: Keep it simple stupid!

A good rule to live by. But... stupid is as stupid does; just ask Forest.

Applies to teaching, writing, engineering, art, architecture, administration....pretty much everything under the sun, really.  We are all naturally inclined to pontificate, exaggerate, and excessively complicate things.  KISS is a rule to live by.

Thats my philosophy when I tutor people in math. Despite how the books make it look.

It can also mean "Keep It Somewhat Stupid"...which, of course, is the usual intellectual path.

I call it "Jarhead proofing" things. If a US Marine can't screw it up, nobody can...

Perhaps "keep it simply stupid" may work better. Especially on RIA. Stupid reviews seem to get higher votes than serious ones.

We should apply this principle to some of the postings on this site!

Especially if one must lie.

Case in point: a few hours ago, I was in a rest stop in the middle of North Carolina with my husband heading back home. This bedraggled lady comes up out of nowhere and approaches my husband, who is about to get into the passenger side of the car. Rushed, she asks "Excuse me . . . sir . . . sir! Oh, does she speak English?", pointing to me in the driver seat (talk about starting off on the wrong foot). I ignore that and ask if she needs help with something. She goes off in this two-minute rant about how she got stuck on the highway, ran out of gas on the way to visit her sick elderly mother, had to get her car towed, and her one year old's in the car and she called everyone she knows but they can't wire her money, and she needs money for gas.

I can't even begin to point out the obvious flaws in her sob story, so I don't even try.

If she had just kept it to something short and believable like "Hey, I ran out of gas, could you spare me a few dollars?" or "Hey, I don't have any cash, I need food, do you have a few bucks?", I would've probably helped her out.