Less Is More Thinking is non-linear

Less is more thinking is non-linear. It means that using small investments in it brings great benefits. It increases the time used for thinking, but it creates benefits for our lives. It is important for us to be able to think about things that are important and interesting to us. People are individuals. We cannot do everything as others do, producing fun and benefits for both ourselves and our environment. The core idea is that only a small portion of our efforts yield us most of our benefits. Ratios vary by subject. The number can be 80/20 or even 99/1. 20% of the products can generate 80% of the company's sales. An even number is just a number. Actual ratios can be as high as 50/1 or 97/20. The latter could mean that 20% of authors sell 97% of books in the United States. Radical fluctuations are due to the non-linearities of life and the world. This is important in social outcomes.

The difference is very large, which means that by exploiting the great effects, we can maximize the power of small things. We should start by thinking about the small core issues, those that produce the greatest benefits in relation to their size. After that, we can reduce our workload by focusing only on core issues, or we can try to keep our workload the same by increasing their share, thus increasing our benefits. We must not just focus on them. It is equally important to get rid of harmful things from our lives. The less is more principle also works in terms of negative effects. A small part of our lives produce the biggest negative effects. Eliminating them is difficult. We need to pay close attention to those efforts.

Focusing on core issues and eliminating unnecessary things requires constant thinking. We can’t avoid it if we want to get more out of our lives. Detecting them requires independent action and the use of your own thinking. On average, we are wrong all the time, even in important things. This is done by following the herd. It is sometimes right, but not nearly always. Cause-effect relationships are key. Often the consequences are considered to be the causes, even if they are not. For example, when one muscle is sore, the pain may radiate to another that is treated without failure. Pain is usually corrected with an analgesic that takes away the pain but does not eliminate the problem. The most important thing to think about is to find the main cause that will be put in order and through it we will get great benefit with less effort. We do not have to solve all our problems at once, but we can think of those that will bring the greatest benefits.

This way of thinking is much different from how we often see things as linear, that is, one by one. A small portion of actions will always be of the greatest value to us and others. We need to think about which action produces the most value. It is not found in mediocrity but under a deeper layer. We need to think new and get under the surface. The surface is our way of thinking linearly and traveling with the herd. Focusing on the same insignificances as the others, we create the same outcomes. To quote Mark Twain, “When you find yourself doing or thinking like the majority, it’s time to stop and think again.” For us, the best way to get to the highest value is to create a mindset where we often reject the opinions of the majority. They include dominant states of mind, consensus thinking, traditional wisdom, and easy answers. These obscure the reality from us, that is, the things that bring the greatest benefits. Giving up mediocre wisdom brings great benefits, but it is difficult. Changing our thinking is the hardest thing for us because it is hard for us to admit to ourselves that we are wrong.