"A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked.
"A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work.
"You have to start over with a working, simple system."
—John Gall, 1975
cited and explained by @baldur there: https://www.baldurbjarnason.com/courses/yellow/
A couple of quotes as a tease to digging deeper:
"Complexity is contagious, it turns out, which is wonderful news for humanity."
"The lesson for #journalists (or anyone) working amidst intractable conflict: complicate the #narrative. Complexity leads to a fuller, more accurate story. It boosts the odds that your work will matter — particularly if it is about a polarizing issue. When you encounter #complexity, they become more curious & less closed off to new information. They listen."
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction.
-- E. F. Schumacher
The Story of Fastify and Vue, by @anothergalvez.bsky.social:
dear #bluesky
how about that: you get off the interwebs right now and WAIT for the systems analysis of the spanish operator and have a nice day?
bc they actually know what's what. while you don't. there is a whole thing called #electrical #engineering, in case you didn't know. your opinion is not needed to solve this mystery.
and btw. the word #complexity has a meaning. you might want to look it up some day.
Complex Anarchism Symposium, 19-23 May 2025 in Brussels
https://clea.research.vub.be/complex-anarchism-symposium-19-23-may-2025-in-brussels
This article is available free for a limited time via #BulletinOfTheAtomicScientists
“Fragile, impermanent things”: #JosephTainter on what makes #civilizations fall
" #Collapse occurs, he argues, when the costs of #complexity are greater than its returns to society. Complex societies are problem-solving organizations, and when the costs of coping with crises are too great, they fail."
#civilisation #tippingPoints #civilization #climatecrisis #DoomsdayClock
Hi @cark @thunderbird,
sure, #complexity, but this is result of deliberate decisions by the project owners. The failing feature should tell in the error #message. Like https://shellcheck.net does.
The origin of the eukaryotic cell corresponded to the most significant increase in #complexity in the history of #life's evolution on Earth.
The billions of years that have passed since the fusion of an #archaea and a #bacteria have resulted in a lack of evolutionary intermediates in the phylogenetic tree until the emergence of the #eukaryotes.
Now researchers present theoretical and observational evidence that a phase transition in genetic complexity was involved.
https://phys.org/news/2025-04-evolutionary-algorithmic-phase-transition-billion.html
Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.
— E. W. Dijkstra
The Evolution of Biological Information: How Evolution Creates Complexity, From Viruses to Brains by Christoph Adams, 2024
Why information is the unifying principle that allows us to understand the evolution of complexity in nature. More than 150 years after Darwin’s revolutionary On the Origin of Species, we are still attempting to understand and explain the amazing complexity of life.
@bookstodon
#books
#nonfiction
#biology
#evolution
#information
#complexity
listen to the #systemsengineers. they get a lot of shit right, imho.
specifically the #healthcare folks.
a lot of human problems can be understood through a #publichealth and #safety perspective.
@AlexanderKingsbury @JugglingWithEggs
Could have been Emergent, #complexity arising from simplicity. Designed, but not by discrete authorial process or gesture.
This is a really cool read. Not entirely sure if there are any practical implications, except that maybe we humans should stop trying to look for simplifying narratives everywhere and start appreciating and embracing diversity in everything.
Oh, I guess that's practical..
https://www.quantamagazine.org/why-everything-in-the-universe-turns-more-complex-20250402/
“A petition over DWP PIP has highlighted a fact all disabled people should know”
by The Canary @thecanaryuk @UKLabour
“A new petition is making waves as it calls on [..] DWP to update the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) application form to include important information about the high success rate of appeals”
https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2025/04/08/dwp-pip-appeals/?__s=1toyfummtp6bhspv4akg
@janl The purpose is to warn bystanders to invest in technological #complexity that seems to be very attractive for its advanced features without acknowledging the risks or efforts associated.
Its learning curve doesn't even allow for an easy start.
As with so many awesome tools, this is something for specific experts and not for new/occasional/advanced users.
BTDT and I've had my fair share of bad experiences.
Current pain in my setup: #NixOS. Instead of providing an abstraction layer to keep away certain OS setup & maintenance problems for good, I got into so many little & bigger troubles that I try to tell people only to use it when they are ready to invest its required learning effort all the way.
From my point of view, this also holds true for "advanced" file systems like #ZFS, #XFS, ... YMMV.
Most of the biggest problems in software are problems of misconception.
— Rich Hickey
An interdisciplinary team of researchers has proposed nothing less than a new law of #nature, according to which the #complexity of entities in the #universe increases over time with an inexorability comparable to the second law of #thermodynamics — the law that dictates an inevitable rise in entropy, a measure of disorder.
If they’re right, complex and intelligent #life should be widespread.
#astrobiology #physics
https://www.quantamagazine.org/why-everything-in-the-universe-turns-more-complex-20250402/
