Complexity Bias

02-11-2019 - 7:37 AM
›[[201902110737]]

A logical fallacy that leads to giving credence to complex concepts over simpler ones. The opposite of Occam’s Razor. It is a cognitive shortcut. If a solution is complex then we can sidestep the work needed to understand.

“Life is really simple, but we make it complicated.” - Confucius

This erupts when we are in a state of confusion. Confusion leads us to think things are beyond our grasp and therefore complicated. The more parts of a situation the more we lean towards complication. ¹

The world around us is a chaotic, entropic place. It is rare for us to see this. Complexity is less common, chaos tends to disguise itself as complexity. “We don’t want to acknowledge that the the world is entropic. Disasters happen and chaos is our natural state.”

we may also see complexity where only chaos exists. This tendency manifests in many forms, such as conspiracy theories, superstition, folklore, and logical fallacies. The distinction between complexity and chaos is not a semantic one. When we imagine that something chaotic is in fact complex, we are seeing it as having an order and more predictability than is warranted. In fact, there is no real order, and prediction is incredibly difficult at best.

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Antidotes

1. “Most geniuses — especially those who lead others — prosper not by deconstructing intricate complexities but by exploiting unrecognized simplicities.” — Andy Benoit
2. Be flexible. Not ridged.
3. Avoid adding unnecessary complexity. Occam’s Razor

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A link to resources
Occam’s Razor [[201812311745]]
Measure of disorder [[201902011156]]
Inversion [[201901250922]]
Entropy [[201901250920]]
Decentralization[[201902121004]]