SIMPLICITY

“Simplicity teaches one to get away with it, or rather, it teaches one not to attach too much importance to anything or oneself.

What could be simpler than the wind? What could be cooler than simplicity?”

An excerpt on “simplicity” from Andre Comte-Sponville’s book “A Short Treatise on Great Virtues.”

Before going into the Simplicity concept and value, the definition of virtue is worth remembering: “The virtue of a being is what constitutes its value.” In other words, it is its unique competence. A good knife is the one that can cut best. However, this definition is sufficient to define the virtue of existence but not to define people’s relationship with virtues.

A significant part of the ORPC manual is a presentation of basic virtues for riding a motorcycle. While considering that none of them can be used in the true sense if we lack simplicity, we must consider the forms in which simplicity impacts both while riding a motorcycle and in daily life.

The dictionary’s simplest definition of simplicity is “the state of being simple.”

Think about your motorcycle ride being observed by one of your friends or consider yourself pushed by necessity and driving at a speed you usually do not touch. In this “artificial situation,” far from simplicity, the focus is on the action, on “what we do.” With constant “I question,” we evaluate ourselves and our actions in a useless and non-objective way. My role, projection, and I are at the center; the “I” is the protagonist, and Simplicity rejects the “I” aiming for carefree but not careless driving. When a person can forget his ego, pride, and fears, the ride meets Simplicity and contributes to developing the person to new learning.

Learning is a process of experience, and this process moves in four phases from unconscious incompetent to unconscious competent: consider the significant role that simplicity plays when you ride “instinctively” with great skill and awareness when you ride as the unconscious competent. Learned and meditated experience brings in simplicity.

In motorcycle riding, when the focus is only on the ride, on the moment, away from ostentation, this is the moment when we come close to meditative-deep thinking, where we enjoy the motorcycle experience the most. Let’s focus on the surprising similarity by juxtaposing a plain, virtuously focused, simple riding without ego, without “I” in the center, and other simplicity definitions.

Simplicity is comfort versus anxiety.

When biking, when we go speeding, or when we tense our arms for any reason, we should suggest to ourselves, “ Simplify your sentiment and your act.”

Simplicity is joy over anxiety.

We ride the motorcycle despite the fear of mistakes, accidents, or the fear of tipping the bike and not being able to balance it (examples can be multiplied). To repeat the act of riding by thinking about the happiness that the motorcycle will bring us, even in moments of anxiety and anxiety.

Simplicity is love over self-respect.

Although the development of self-confidence supports our rides, the “I” at the center is the main obstacle to excellence. The ability to think will allow us to focus on loved action and be done with passion. (We love riding motorcycles despite everything we can’t do/achieve).

Simplicity is truth against arrogance.

It is not difficult to encounter arrogance, self-superiority, and grandiosity while riding a motorcycle. The virtue of simplicity will help us search for what we can do better rather than listening to what and how well other people pretend to do.

At this point, it is necessary to briefly touch upon the virtue of purity, which complements simplicity. It is not possible to achieve complete purity physically in nature. As in the example of pure water, we choose between different impurities when needed. (Such as choosing less dirty pool water to make it hygienic, adding chlorine, etc.) When we remove purity from its material definition and evaluate it as a virtue, we can talk about the virtue of purity whenever the love for the work done is disinterested. (Never 100%) Think about the rides we have done so far or the rides we plan to do from now on. Have we ever had “driving skills” that we wanted to show/prove to the people we drove with at least once? If the answer is still no, let’s remember our rides where we ignored/shelved the system even for a short time for our satisfaction. Although purity is a point that is impossible to reach (because we are human), just like in nature, it is a very powerful utopia that will take us to the next level in the journey of driving and being a virtuous driver and nourishing other virtues. (Utopia derives from the Greek words ou meaning “non-existent,” eu meaning “perfect,” and topos meaning “place/soil/country.”)

While focusing on the basic differences between different biker behaviors from the perspective of an experienced motorcycle rider, let’s also consider the role of simplicity in development.

The first of these is a rider in need of development. This pilot hits potholes, gravel, and unpaved areas (even in parking lots) with harsh reactions, the same jerky reaction when he perceives a hazard late (for example, a vehicle coming from the right or left late). Vision is short; skills are short; action is harsh.

The second rider is quite good, almost perfect. He avoids obstacles and changes in the surface with gentle and competent steering motion. On the road, you can see him smoothly moving left and right, always searching for the right position, the best vision with the correct action.

And there is a third type of rider. You need help understanding what he is doing, and you can anticipate his movements. He moves away from all kinds of obstacles or hazards that disrupt security in a way that looks surprisingly easy, barely noticeable. You never see his “escape maneuvers” because he has a comprehensive plan with good timing and has implemented the necessary action/reaction long before any hazard comes into (your) view. The planning is clever, the implementation fluent, and he keeps alternatives. This rider is like a ghost… almost invisible while covering the road “hungrier” for information. He constantly considers (in his simple mind) what is visible and invisible. He uses every second on the motorcycle to gather information. He is here now.

Using every second so precisely and effectively is only possible with a masterful understanding and application of simplicity.

We can consider the ORPC method as a new alphabet arising from virtues selected for their impact on motorcycle riding. However, it would be unfair to associate the virtues that make up this alphabet only with biking. Simplicity, as all the virtues, can apply to other areas of our lives, the whole of our emotions, our taste, and the way we cultivate relationships.