Complex is not Complicated

September 19, 2020 General Insights No Comments

These are very distinct concepts. The latter is mechanical; the former is organic. The latter is controllable from the outside; the former is only controllable from the inside. This text is a short introduction in what and why.

Complexity is indispensable to understand human affairs and how to alleviate growing crises.

Complex?

“A complex system is a system with many elements that are not necessarily complex by themselves but that interact with each other in such ways that the overall system shows complex behavior that is not tractably reducible to the behavior of the elements.” [from “The Journey Towards Compassionate A.I., 2020”].

And I keep quoting myself:

“The complexity stems from the emergence of behavior from the interaction at a lower level. … The cerebral cortex is one example of a complex system. So is a surfer on a wave, a jazz musician, and a social network. … An open-complex system has fuzzy borders with its environment. It is, therefore, always open to the environment, exchanging energy and information. It is also open to inside: energy and information flow through it relatively unrestrained at different levels.“

Notice ‘open.’

I write a lot about Openness. it’s always about complexity.

This is important in order to understand human beings as well as future A.I. systems. Indeed, one can grasp nothing about future A.I. without a profound insight in this matter. Dangerous? Yes!

Remember: only controllable from the inside. This is probably why many people don’t like the idea and run away from it, but that won’t help.

In human affairs, especially when it comes to mind or mind-related stuff, an understanding of complexity is indispensable for any mind-related professional. That includes physicians, psychologists, teachers, leaders, motivational experts and more.

It is also necessary in order to intellectually comprehend Compassion in whichever medium. In my view, this will make or break humanity altogether, soon enough.

But we are not nearing this ideal picture of comprehension.

I dare say that without a profound insight in complexity – much more than this introductory blog – the way that every human domain is dealt with, will turn more and more into a disaster. This is not only about a bleak future. We’re in the zone already, due to a growingly complex society.

There is no proper alternative.

Medicine

for instance. As a body, a human being is complicated and quite complex. As a mind, even more, we are immensely complex beings.

Without complexity, one cannot understand how the psyche affects health and healing. This way, psycho-somatics cannot be grasped. Also, there is no insight in what to do to alleviate unhealthy influences, nor how to proceed in a truly ‘holistic’ management.

Leadership

No Open Leadership without complexity.

No proper leadership at all. Understanding complexity is not necessary in this, but it helps a lot. Putting it in reality is a must. An Open Leader realizes complexity in good and ethical ways for the organization that he leads.

How?

Knowing what it is and why it is important, naturally, the how-question pops up. Actually, this has been translated by me into many tools already, to which I can refer now. You see:

AURELIS.

I invite you to look around on the AURELIS websites. There is much material to work with: AURELIS sessions, Read&Dos, and, of course, these blogs. Each carries complexity. They need to be read slowly to not miss it. A problem or a challenge?

Lisa, of course, will be of help. At the same time, the underlying technology will be increasingly based on complexity. [see: “Lisa“] Complexity is essential on the path to Compassionate A.I.

We have a challenging future ahead.