POSTED: OCT 1, 2025
I like simple…. I like complex….
But my relationship has changed with these two concepts as I have aged.
The two terms are not as binary or mutually exclusive as I once thought. Most things exist in both realms but sometimes the significance of something is whether you choose to evaluate the complex elements or ignore them for the simple impact or big picture. All about the forest and the trees at times and at other times very much about the trees.
Part of what looking at the complex gives us is depth as we dive in the various layers of almost anything – whether it’s the detail of a design or the hidden reasons for behaviour. And another key component of complexity is context. Yes, our old friend context is always critical and in any equation with many factors, it is that context that matters.
As I age, I see this distinction in simple and complex in almost everything.
Electric cars are better than gasoline powered cars when it comes to carbon emissions. But dig deeper and depending on the source of the electricity to go into the car battery (eg generating electricity from coal vs generating it from solar or wind power) plus the loss of power in the transmission of the electricity from source to the location of the charger and associated environmental damage from that transmission, plus the issue of the extraction of minerals to create the batteries, plus there is no current way to deal with the batteries once they come to the end of their life, and we realize the real environmental equation is not so simple.
Or you can respect a person for one set of skills and in simple terms consider them a friend but dig a bit deeper and you may not respect them for their life choices.
During an election a few years ago, I asked a friend why he had a particular politicians sign on his lawn. He explained that he had followed the politician stand on many key pieces of legislation and did not agree with all the policies of the party that the politician represented, disliked the politicians ambition and a variety of his personal traits. But on balance – it was simple – the other candidates were worse.
My head spins today when I watch the news. I once believed I understood the world, with its simple truths, and complex issues but today realize it was probably my ignorance that led me to the conclusion that I understood it. The wisdom to come to that conclusion I think like most things is both simple and complex. As I bury friends and watch the world decay, the complexity of it is right before us and we have access to dig deep into almost any topic very easily, but I find myself valuing more of the simple things. A nice day, homemade jam on a fresh baquette, a nice chat with a friend or a refreshing swim. I can choose complex on my time and on my terms.
Django