Re: subjectivity

[nospam@thanks.com.au (Don Harrison)]

Matthew Heaney wrote:

:Here's a quote relevent to this thread:
:
:The idea that complexity is directly related to people's psychological
:being was recognized by Ashby.  He argues that complexity depends on
:people's interests:
:
:"to the neurophysiologist the brain, as a feltwork of fibers and a soup of
:enzymes, is certainly complex; and equally the transmission of a detailed
:description of it would require much time.  To a butcher the brain is
:simple, for he has to distinguish it from only about thirty other "meats.""
:
:From Dealing with Complexity, by Flood and Carson

Nice quote.

:They also observe that
:
:"In general, we associate complexity with anything we find difficult to
:understand."

Good definition.

:That's why complexity can only be understood by considering both people
:_and_ things.  There is no such thing as an "objective" measure of
:simplicity or complexity, because humans are involved, and every human has
:a different view of the system, depending on his interest.  To the butcher,
:the brain isn't complex at all.

The interest factor may be quite relevant here. My interest in minimality,
uniqueness etc. certainly colours my own perception of simplicity.


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Don Harrison             au.com.csa.syd@donh