Akkam’s Razor

I had a Revelation of sorts regarding my thesis (capstone) walking to work from the train. But let me back up a bit.

As my train got closer to the city, a person, similar to my own age, sat down next to me. A sideways glance at his reading material revealed Joe Bagent’s [blog] Deer Hunting with Jesus [Amazon].

Bagent is one of those writers that I find irresistible.  Simple prose, powerful imagery, and accessible anecdotes.

We starting chatting - he revealed to me that his wife had bought him the book, as it reflected his own West Virginian upbringing as the child of a Blue Collar father who labored in the steel industry, while his mother stayed at home raising the kids. The conversation eventually progressed to a mutual agreement that the world as we know has ended, and the successes enjoyed by his family were not likely to be repeated. we are looking over the precipice anticipating what is next, who will lead us there, and how we will get there. Our outlook was mostly grim and bordering on apathy. I left the train with an analogy - regardless as to which candidate is elected, the country is going over a cliff. The only difference will be how fast we are going and how quickly we hit the bottom. Our obstacle is the American story, and the realities of American Culture - neither of which will allow for what we must do to be accomplished. Somehow, we have to use what we have to “git ‘er done”.

I’m a big fan of Russell Ackoff’s seminal story from Idealized Design [Amazon], where an engineering executive of Bell Labs tells his direct reports that “the phone system of the United States was destroyed last night”, summarized here:

About ten minutes after the hour, the door to the room squeaked open. All eyes turned to it, and there he was. He was obviously very upset. He was a pasty gray and bent over as he slowly shuffled down the aisle without a word to anyone. He mounted the platform, stood behind the podium, put his elbows on it, and held his head in his two hands, looking down.The room was dead silent. Finally, he looked up and in an uncharacteristically meek voice said, “Gentlemen, the telephone system of the United States was destroyed last night.” Then he looked down again.