Less is less and more is more

If I had to describe the core of the Western culture in one sentence, I would say “More is better”. More money and power; more friends and sexual partners; more information, more attention; more life experiences and achievements. I usually like to vocally reject it, but just as often I catch myself living these values without noticing. They are a fundamental part of me, and I’m afraid that trying to escape them would be more or less escaping myself.

Then there’s the catchy principle “Less is more” promoting minimalism. Funny thing is, when you use “Less is more” to say “Less is better”, and the listener understands what you mean, then the implied common background is that “more is better”, otherwise the phrase would be complete nonsense. No wonder the “Less is more” principle has been so effective in selling minimalist designs – you say “Less is more” in your advertising, and I hear “I should get more of that beautiful ‘less’ in my life”.

“Good” is what matters, even if it is spelled as “More”. I guess, “Less is better” sounded self-evidently false, so we had to invent the “Less is more” oxymoron. Less is always less, and more is always more, but less is sometimes better.