On Complexity-of-Gratification As a Metric for Maturity

“Of several acceptable explanations for a phenomenon, the simplest is preferable, provided that it takes all circumstances into account.”
— Occam's razor (common understanding of the principle)

“Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
— Einstein's razor, (used when an appeal to Occam's razor results in an over-simplified explanation insufficient to meet needs or goals)

Despite Einstein's imprimatur for simplicity in theoretical physics, complexity has its own beneficial attributes. Notable examples include the complexity of well-aged wine, the dietary benefits of complex carbohydrates, and the negentropy resulting from human ingenuity.

All human newborns have the same basic (hence simple) gratification-instinct: mother's milk. As they mature, their world view expands to include other, less basic, though potentially just as gratifying pursuits, including, but not limited to, wine, (wo)men, and song. Such pursuits introduce complexity of ultimate gratification, especially in the case of women (but I digress).

It occurs to me that complexity of gratification could serve as a metric for a person's level of maturity. By this I do not necessarily mean delayed gratification, as opposed to instant gratification, the former considered to be a personality trait which is important for life success. For the purpose of this post, I mean complexity of gratification in the sense of a reduction in local entropy through a creative activity, not simply mindless groping for the nearest breast, so to speak.

With complexity of gratification as a metric for maturity, we correlate maturity with creativity and progress, which in turn has the effect of ennobling the aging process. Thus, construction is preferred to destruction, especially because the former delays while the latter accelerates the inexorable increase of entropy toward universal heat death. The winner in the game of life is not he who accumulates the most toys. It is he who strives for more complexity of gratification.

Post #854 On Complexity-of-Gratification As a Metric for Maturity