The author of Simplexity is Jeffrey Kluger, a senior editor and writer for Time magazine. Little wonder then that this book reads almost like an extended version of a Time magazine feature article.This is not a bad thing. The writing is admirable because it possesses that quality of being able to fuse abstract ideas with vivid descriptions. Being a reader of such a text has its payoff because the ability to grasp the gist of the idea is what people are looking for. People like the feeling of comprehension.
However, I was still a little disappointed with the treatment of the topic of complexity, simply because too little insights are given. There is no systematic explanation of what complexity entails, but rather it deals with different scenarios and ferrets it out by pinpointing it in each instance.
Although the idea that complexity stems from simple premises or building blocks might be news to some, I have come across better explanations of it in books such as Nexus by Mark Buchanan.
What I did like about Simplexity, though, is the explanation of the "Complexity Arc". It is perhaps one of the best insights provided.
If plotted on a spectrum, complexity at its highest level is in between two states: chaotic/ unstable (a room full of gas molecules) and robust/ stable (a lump of rock). This region between disorder and order is truly complex because it is comparable to a state of balance, an organised anarchy of sorts, and an oddball of stable dynamism and fluidity that is paradoxical.
Think of the human body or a horse or a car and you see what I mean. With the countless interactions and happenings in these states that actually produces something meaningful, complexity is fearfully wonderful.
