Is having a short thought process necessarily a bad thing?

In life, we often hear the phrase, "It happened because you didn't think it through."

It sounds as if having a short thought process means being foolish and reckless, but from my experience, that is not always the case. In fact, there have been many more instances where overthinking led to failure.

Looking into Eastern and Western philosophies, similar ideas emerge. Concepts like the Eastern idea of 'wu wei' and the Western principle of Occam's Razor emphasize that truth lies in simplicity rather than complexity.

The world of programming is no different.

Code written by beginners tends to be unnecessarily long and verbose, while code written by experts is surprisingly short, simple, and powerful. Life is not much different.

When I look back at the code I wrote as a novice, I feel my face flush. Unnecessary if statements, duplicated functions, endlessly extended conditions. Back then, I tried to prepare for every possible scenario, and as a result, the code became a monster. Yet, such code often had many bugs.

Expert code is different. It is concise. Like poetry, it is short, yet the more you read it, the more you admire it. It encapsulates years of experience. In other words, experts do not stop thinking altogether. Rather, they have thought deeply enough to know how to cut out the unnecessary.

Life is similar. If you consider too many possibilities, you may end up doing nothing. Conversely, a simple attitude of "let's just try it" can often open up paths quickly.

The Eastern philosopher Zhuangzi valued simple flow over complex logic. He said, "Great wisdom resembles foolishness." At first glance, a seemingly simple and reckless attitude actually means being the most natural and effective.

For Zhuangzi, 'short thinking' was not foolishness but a natural freedom that breaks away from forced conditions and rules. Through the story of the butterfly's dream, he blurred the boundaries between reality and dreams and trusted simple experiences more than complex theories.

In programming terms, Zhuangzi's philosophy is about removing unnecessary code and leaving only the core algorithms. It resembles the idea that "the simpler, the better, as long as it doesn't hinder functionality."

On the other hand, the Western philosopher Nietzsche did not directly praise simplicity. He criticized humans for living with too many 'conditional statements' imposed by tradition, morality, and social norms. However, that does not mean he advocated for acting simply and thoughtlessly. For Nietzsche, what is important is to recover instinct and strength after deep contemplation.

The image of the Übermensch that Nietzsche described is not someone who acts out of ignorance or short thinking. Rather, it is someone who possesses simplicity that remains after deep reflection and self-overcoming. He said, "Dive deep, but act lightly as if dancing."

In programming terms, Nietzsche's simplicity differs from Zhuangzi's. Zhuangzi suggests writing code simply from the start, while Nietzsche advocates experiencing and digesting all complex possibilities before ultimately implementing optimized simplicity.

In summary, Zhuangzi advises living simply from the beginning. Nature is inherently simple, so do not complicate it unnecessarily. Nietzsche, on the other hand, suggests recovering simplicity after delving deeply. Humans cannot avoid complexity, so they must enter it, overcome it, and ultimately achieve simplicity.

What I learned as a programmer is similar. As a beginner, I needed the lesson of Zhuangzi: "Write simply first." Long and complex code ultimately leads to maintenance issues and failure.

However, as I gain experience, I develop the ability to produce more concise code after deep contemplation, where simplicity becomes not merely 'short thinking' but a 'concentrated essence of depth.'

So, is short thinking advantageous?

Short thinking, or simple decisions, can sometimes wield great power. However, there is a difference between shortness that arises from ignorance and shortness that is filtered through experience.

Ignorance is 'reckless simplicity.' → It has a high chance of failure.

Experience is 'refined simplicity.' → It becomes an optimized solution.

What is advantageous in life is the latter. Simplicity that has gone through deep thought but has cut out unnecessary verbosity. Just like the best code in programming is short yet optimized.

Today, as I write code and read philosophy, I gain the same lesson.

Zhuangzi says, "Flow simply from the start," while Nietzsche says, "After diving deep, rise simply." The two paths may seem different, but they ultimately converge in the same place.

Short thinking can lead to failure. But too much thinking can also lead to failure.

What matters is the quality of simplicity.

Not reckless shortness, but refined shortness. That is the true path of an expert.

Ultimately, that path is the most beautiful optimization in the grand coding project of life.