I guess I am struggling to get across what I mean.

I see Hickey as having a specific, focused, goal about enabling simplicity (given his specific meaning for that word) and yes I totally agree that every designer, including Hickey, does as you say.

What I was trying to get across was that I don’t see the guiding principle that guide the selection of those “best” features to include so much as “there’s this great stuff” that we must include.

Does that make more sense? Or should I put down my shovel?