Quotessence
Home / Topics / Complexity Quotes

Complexity Quotes

Browse 1197 quotes about Complexity.

Related topics

WorldSimplicityPeopleThinkingHumansIfsComplexesWaySimpleWantKnowsMenKindProblemDoeMeanMindTryingChaosNeedsCharacterUniverseWellsArtUnderstandingLanguageComplicatedProcessRealityFormTechnologyWritingIndividualLittlesDiversityLevelsMayRealSelfWholeDesignDifficultFirstsHas BeensImportantShouldBelieveDealsDifferentEvolutionGivingHuman BeingsLooksMatterPersonsProgrammingClearTwoAbilityGreaterIdeasMadeNaturalShowsAbleArtistBookChallengesDoneEnoughIncreaseLifeOrderSituationSoftwareStructureTurnsAddBrainDesireHelpingIntellectualModelsRunningAttentionCultureEffortFactsFeelsOrganizationPatternsPossibilitySolutionsStoriesUseValuesAmbiguityCapableComplexity Of HumanComputermore

Complexity Quotes

“In the midst of the complexities of modern life, with all its pressures, the spirit of man needs to refresh itself by communion with unspoiled nature. In such surroundings- occasional as our visits may be- we can achieve that kind of physical and spiritual renewal that comes alone from the wonder of the natural world.”

MenWorldNeedsKindMaySpiritualSpiritNaturalWonderModernAchievePressureComplexityMidstCommunionSurroundingsRenewalModern LifeNatural WorldOccasionalSpiritual Renewal
Author:Laurance Rockefeller
Create image

“The theory of evolution by cumulative natural selection is the only theory we know of that is in principle capable of explaining the existence of organized complexity.”

KnowsNaturalExistencePrinciplesInspireHealthTheoryEvolutionCapableComplexityOrganizedSelectionExplainingNatural SelectionCreationismTheory Of EvolutionCumulativeCreation And EvolutionPaleo Diet
Book:The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe without Design
Create image

“What distinguishes [Afropolitans] is a willingness to complicate Africa – namely, to engage with, critique, and celebrate the parts of Africa that mean most to them. Perhaps what most typifies the Afropolitan consciousness is the refusal to oversimplify; the effort to understand what is ailing in Africa alongside the desire to honour what is wonderful, unique. Rather than essentialising the geographical entity, we seek to comprehend the cultural complexity; to honour the intellectual and spiritual legacy; and to sustain our parents’ cultures.”

MeanSpiritualDesireCultureParentEffortConsciousnessWonderfulUniqueIntellectualCelebrateLegacyComplexityWillingnessHonourEntityRefusalCritique
Author:Taiye Selasi
Create image

“I believe that almost all important, useful ideas are simple. Peter Whittle has recently put it nicely in an autobiographical essay. "If a piece of work is heavy and complicated then it is wrong." . . . Some writers feel that to express their ideas in simple terms is degrading. Some use complexity to disguise the paucity of their material. In fact, simplicity is a virtue and when, as here, it is both original and useful, it can represent a real advance in knowledge.”

IfsFeelsBelieveImportantIdeasRealFactsUseBeliefI BelieveTermWorkSimpleVirtuePiecesMaterialsOriginalsSimplicityHeavyComplicatedComplexityPeterDisguiseEssaysDegrading
Author:Dennis Lindley
Create image

“We live in two worlds - order and chaos. In the world of order, we plan, reflect, and think about what to do next. In the world of chaos, things happen, we get things done, yet unpredictability persists. In one world, we like to think we are in control. In the other, we mingle together with increasing complexity, conflict, and uncertainty.”

ThinkingWorldTwoDoneHappensTogetherOrderNextPlansConflictChaosThings HappenUncertaintyComplexityPersistConnectingThings DoneWorld OrderTwo WorldsUnpredictabilityOrder And ChaosChaos In The World
Author:David Spangler
Create image

“Pessimism is a very easy way out because it is a short view of life. If you look at what is happening around us today, you can't help but feel that life is a terrible complexity of problems. But if you look back a few thousand years, you realize that we have advanced fantastically. If you take a long view, I do not see how you can be pessimistic about the future of mankind.”

IfsWayLifeFeelsYearsLooksLongHelpingProblemTodayLife IsEasyRealizingViewsMankindTerribleFutureThousandHappeningsComplexityPessimismThousand YearsPessimisticEasy WayFuture Of Mankind
Author:Robertson Davies
Create image

“Of all created things the source is one, Simple, single as love; remember The cell and seed of life, the sphere That is, of child, white bird, and small blue dragon-fly Green fern, and the gold four-petalled tormentilla The ultimate memory. Each latent cell puts out a future, Unfolds its differing complexity As a tree puts forth leaves, and spins a fate Fern-traced, bird feathered, or fish-scaled.”

LifeChildrenRememberMemoriesSimpleWhiteFourFateTreeSourceFutureBirdGoldUltimateBlueGreenSimplicityFishesSeedsCellsComplexityDragonsSpheresLatentFernsWhite Birds
Book:Selected poems
Create image

“Beauty is more important in computing than anywhere else in technology because software is so complicated. Beauty is the ultimate defense against complexity. ... The geniuses of the computer field, on the the other hand, are the people with the keenest aesthetic senses, the ones who are capable of creating beauty. Beauty is decisive at every level: the most important interfaces, the most important programming languages, the winning algorithms are the beautiful ones.”

PeopleImportantHandsBeautifulWinningLanguageLevelsTechnologyLearningFieldsGeniusComputerCreatingCapableUltimateComplicatedDefenseSensesComplexityProgrammingSoftwareAestheticComputer ProgrammingProgramming LanguagesComputer LanguageComputingAlgorithmsInterfacesCreating Beauty
Author:David Gelernter
Create image

“There is a race between the increasing complexity of the systems we build and our ability to develop intellectual tools for understanding their complexity. If the race is won by our tools, then systems will eventually become easier to use and more reliable. If not, they will continue to become harder to use and less reliable for all but a relatively small set of common tasks. Given how hard thinking is, if those intellectual tools are to succeed, they will have to substitute calculation for thought.”

IfsThinkingHardUseGivenUnderstandingAbilityCommonRaceLearningEasierSucceedIntellectualToolsTasksHarderComplexityProgrammingSubstitutesCalculationsComputer ProgrammingProgramming LanguagesComputer Language
Author:Leslie Lamport
Create image

“Complexity has and will maintain a strong fascination for many people. It is true that we live in a complex world and strive to solve inherently complex problems, which often do require complex mechanisms. However, this should not diminish our desire for elegant solutions, which convince by their clarity and effectiveness. Simple, elegant solutions are more effective, but they are harder to find than complex ones, and they require more time, which we too often believe to be unaffordable”

PeopleWorldShouldBelieveProblemDesireStrongSimpleLearningSolutionsHarderComplexesStriveSolveClarityComplexityProgrammingConvinceMore TimeMechanismDiminishElegantFascinationEffectivenessComplex ProblemsElegant Solutions
Author:Niklaus Wirth
Create image

“An honorable human relationship- that is, one in which two people have the right to use the word "love"- is a process, delicate, violent, often terrifying to both persons involved, a process of refining the truths they can tell each other. It is important to do this because it breaks down human self-delusion and isolation. It is important to do this because in doing so we do justice to our own complexity. It is important to do this because we can count on so few people to go that hard way with us.”

PeopleWayLoveHumansPersonsTwoImportantSelfHardUseProcessJusticeLove IsBreakInvolvedViolentComplexityIsolationDelusionDelicateHonorableBreaking DownHuman RelationsHuman RelationshipsHard WayRefiningSelf DelusionWords Love
Book:On Lies, Secrets, and Silence: Selected Prose 1966-1978
Create image

“We are focused on features, not products. We eliminated future products that would have made the complexity problem worse. We don't want to have 20 different products that work in 20 different ways. I was getting lost at our site keeping track of everything. I would rather have a smaller set of products that have a shared set of features.”

WayWantMadeDifferentProblemSuccessLostBusinessProductsTrackFocusedFeaturesDifferent WaysComplexitySiteGetting Lost
Author:Sergey Brin
Create image

“The complexity of C++ (even more complexity has been added in the new C++), and the resulting impact on productivity, is no longer justified. All the hoops that the C++ programmer had to jump through in order to use a C-compatible language make no sense anymore - they're just a waste of time and effort. Now, Go makes much more sense for the class of problems that C++ was originally intended to solve.”

Has BeensUseProblemOrderLanguageEffortClassWasteImpactSolveProductivityComplexityWasting TimeJustifiedProgrammersCompatible
Author:Bruce Eckel
Create image

“Knowing is a veneer out minds create and lay over the landscape like a painter's drop cloth set upon a forest floor. Its uniformity protects us from the pine needles and beetles, but it also obscures them, as well as the soft moss, fragrant soil, and the teeming complexity of nature's bed. In moments, however, we catch glints and feel the breezes of something more direct, something outside that self system.”

FeelsMindWellsSelfMomentsKnowingMeditationBedProtectDirectLaysForestsPainterLandscapeComplexitySoilBreezeNeedlesMossUniformityBeetlesVeneer
Author:Greg Kramer
Create image

“With genetic engineering, we will be able to increase the complexity of our DNA, and improve the human race. But it will be a slow process, because one will have to wait about 18 years to see the effect of changes to the genetic code. By contrast, computers double their speed and memories every 18 months. There is a real danger that computers will develop intelligence and take over. We urgently need to develop direct connections to the brain so that computers can add to human intelligence rather than be in opposition.”

NeedsYearsMindHumansRealAbleWaitingProcessMemoriesRaceBrainEffectsDangerMonthsComputerDirectConnectionsIncreaseAddSpeedCodeHuman RaceComplexityOppositionContrastEngineeringDnaMind BlowingHuman IntelligenceGenetic Engineering
Author:Stephen Hawking
Create image

“There is a new science of complexity which says that the link between cause and effect is increasingly difficult to trace; that change (planned or otherwise) unfolds in non-linear ways; that paradoxes and contradictions abound; and that creative solutions arise out of diversity, uncertainty and chaos.”

WayScienceCausesDifficultCreativityCreativeEffectsDiversitySolutionsChaosAriseUncertaintyComplexityContradictionParadoxLinksCause And EffectLinearCreative Solutions
Author:Andy Hargreaves
Create image

“We need merely understand that the evolutionary process is neither random nor determined but creative. It follows the general pattern of all creativity. While there is no way of fully understanding the origin moment of the universe we can appreciate the direction of evolution in its larger arc of development as moving from lesser to great complexity in structure and from lesser to greater modes of consciousness. We can also understand the governing principles of evolution in terms of its three movements toward differentiation, inner spontaneity, and comprehensive bonding.”

WayNeedsMomentsMovingUniverseThreeProcessUnderstandingTermConsciousnessPrinciplesCreativityCreativeGreaterMovementDevelopmentEvolutionAppreciateStructurePatternsDeterminedComplexityGoverningComprehensiveSpontaneityArcsBondingDifferentiation
Author:Thomas Berry
Create image

“A true noun, an isolated thing, does not exit in nature. Things are only the terminal points, or rather the meeting points of actions, cross sections cut through actions, snapshots. Neither can a pure verb, an abstract motion, be possible in nature. The eye sees noun and verb as one, things in motion, motion in things.”

DoeEyeActionCuttingOne ThingPureCrossesMeetingsChaosAbstractComplexityIsolatedSectionsExitVerbsNounsSnapshotsTerminal
Book:The Chinese Written Character as a Medium for Poetry: A Critical Edition
Create image