Artificial Complexity

Introduction

The War Against Needless Complexity

Artificial complexity is a term used here to describe the needless over-engineered complexity that exists in various systems, techniques, language and public structures that exist in all modern societies. Everywhere you find it a whole army of specialists and experts has been created to “administer”, “deliver” and “assist” the general public so that they don’t fall foul of the law and “receive” what they are entitled to. This article attempts to challenge the conventional wisdom inherent in these systems by looking at how lateral thinking can offer simple “out-of-the-box” solutions to deliver the same or even better outcomes than the traditional over-engineered ones currently do.

The central hypothesis being explored here is that over-complexity is a phenomenon that has developed and is becoming a bigger problem as societies evolve and become more sophisticated. This has been illustrated with examples from many different areas both in the private and public domain. They might be from the areas of communication, education, the legal system, management consultancy, the public sector services and the ever-expanding information technology industry.

If at this point you are confused by the idea then just think about the taxation system where you live. If you have ever had to fill in an income tax form you will no doubt have been frustrated at some point along the way. Most people accept the concept that as citizens they should pay their taxes to fund essential the services they benefit from as citizens. However the mechanism that exists to allow you to calculate, declare and pay your taxes is very complex and bureaucratic. Does it need to be so?

Laterally thought-out solutions have been offered to solve the problems described. A recognition has been made that the increased ease and efficiency these new models offer would create other problems, the main one being white-collar unemployment. Here again the tool of lateral thinking has been deployed to solve that problem.

Language
Anybody who has had to learn English as a second will know how unphonetic its spelling is and the illogical constructions that are created when using prefixes and the irregularities there are when conjugating verbs. Bill Bryson's book The Mother Tongue goes into this in detail.

Esperanto is a totally fabricated language invented by L. L. Zamenhof whose goal was to create an easy and flexible language that would serve as a universal second language to foster peace and international understanding. A simplified system of grammar and spelling was developed to encourage its use.

The Simplified Spelling Society has been established to reform the spelling of the English language. It is believed that reform of the spelling of the English language could help children learn to read and make life easier for some adults.Marsha Bell who is a member of SSS has summed up the problem neatly: "Spelling is just a bunch of memorization." For a full simplified glossary click here.

Education

Taxation
No-one can deny that the tax laws in most jurisdictions have become over-complicated and riddle with ambiguities and unfairness. Huge tax collecting agencies have grown on the coat tails of this particular strain of artifical complexity. The philosophy of taxation most would argue is to pay for the public goods and services deemed necessary for a civilsed society to function. There is also an overlay of the welfare state in most advanced jurisdictions to build in equity and safety nets for those most disadvantaged.

A very simple lateral thinking solution to this would be to have only a purchase tax as it can be argued that the economic benefit of money is only experienced when you spend it. For this to work properly the tax would have to be introduced globally on an equal basis. This would remove any disparites caused by the retention elsewhere of other forms of taxation.

Language

Politics

Legal System

Information Techology

Management Consultancy

The Professions

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See Also

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