Insight #8: On levels of complexity

Hello again and welcome to Insight #8; On levels of complexity.

• Life is strange. In many ways, life appears very complicated and dense. In others, it seems very simple and clear. Often these two contradicting qualities apply to the same things, sometimes even at the same time. This is a paradox worth exploring, because I believe it can be resolved by adjusting our perspective.

• In reality everything is both simple and complex. Everything can be understood at ever deeper levels, or resumed succinctly. There is value in both, and knowing that both exist in all things can help when we encounter new problems or experiences.

• This concept I believe to be one of the keys to wisdom, the understanding that knowledge itself is varied, that there are many sides to a story, that things can be as simple or complex as we need them to be. In the end it comes down to what we need and what our goals are. One of the qualities of wise people is a keen judgement, a sharp mind, the ability to learn and understand things quickly and in the moment.

• The key to understanding is in the approach, the way we intend to gain it, for example if we try to learn a complicated math concept by trying to resolve a problem without any prior experience or knowledge, we are likely to fail. However if we first learn the theory, understand it’s application and origin, we can increase our likelyhood of getting the correct answers.

• This doesn’t mean that launching ourselves blank into a situation is hopeless, sometimes that is what is required, but we shouldn’t take any which approach thoughtlessly. Careful consideration should be taken when choosing an approach to understanding, if we want to achieve the knowledge and results we want.

• So if you have been fighting with a situation or problem and can’t seem to get to the bottom of it, I suggest inspecting your approach, perhaps you need help from a more experienced friend, or maybe you haven’t taken enough action to get the problem to fully show itself. Try switching up your goals, perhaps it is better to try and understand things simply. Or maybe you are lacking in the finer details department.

• Remember that trying the same thing over and over expecting a different result is the definition of madness…

Until next time, have a great evening.