Introduction and On Complexity
Welcome to It’s Complex and thank you for reading! It’s Complex is where we think about and deal with the world’s many complexities—from global issues to individual experiences...
May 16, 2022
Welcome to It’s Complex and thank you for reading! It’s Complex is where we think about and deal with the world’s many complexities—from global issues to individual experiences. The world sure is a complex place, and it is easy to get overwhelmed. We end up glossing over complexity and postpone thinking about it. But much is at stake for humanity and for individuals. Let’s stop postponing; let’s embrace complexity and deal with it.
I am excited to start this Newsletter and I look forward to thinking about complexity with you. This inaugural post has two sections. The first section is an introductory overview of the goals and framework for It’s Complex. The second section defines complexity in terms of multidimensionality, connectedness, and dynamics, which will be recurring themes in newsletters to come.
Introduction: The World is a Complex Place
From people living their daily lives in all corners of the world to the widespread and global issues that face humanity, the world is a complex place. There is more to everything than meets the eye. Do you know some complex people? Have you had to deal with some complex situations in your day? How about living through the pandemic and dealing with its aftermath? Talk about complex! How about climate change? How about what happened in Washington DC on January 6, 2021? How about Russia and Ukraine? How about relationships and raising children? How about losing weight and keeping it off? How about understanding why people do what they do?
We encounter complexity frequently, and I imagine that many readers are quite familiar with complexity. But do we really know and embrace complexity? I am not so sure. We may acknowledge complexity but then get easily overwhelmed by it. Complexity ends up being glossed over, swept under the rug, or kicked down the road to be dealt with another day. I know that I get overwhelmed by complexity quite frequently. But there are some urgent complex issues to address and we cannot wait any longer for another day. Although I get overwhelmed by complexity, I also get frustrated and annoyed when it is glossed over. I keep saying, “Wait, that’s not the whole story. It’s complex!” Yet at the same time, I am hopeful because I see increasing recognition of complexity and pleas to address it. It is time to embrace complexity and to deal with it. Much is at stake for humanity and for individuals. Hence this newsletter.
Newsletter Goals and Framework
My goal for this newsletter is to ponder and grapple with some of the complexities that comprise the world, including focusing on the complexities of human functioning. I want to expose and counter the simplicity of some ideas and assumptions, and promote ways of embracing complexity and thinking complexly about the world—especially about human functioning. As I grapple with varied issues, I want to offer and provoke some different ways of thinking about them. That is—different from how I think they are often presented and discussed by people in general, in the news and media, and in mainstream psychology.
Throughout the newsletter, I will draw on examples from daily life and current events, as well as varied sources and texts from the sciences and humanities (including my own work as a psychologist). I will also draw on ways of speaking—from idioms and common phrases to my collection of quotations of what people say in everyday situations. I will use a systems approach as an overall framework for thinking about complexity. A systems approach is not as intimidating as it sounds, and I will explain its basic premises next time. I will raise questions about complex issues that defy definitive answers. We will go in some circles as we grapple with varied overlapping issues and their complexities. There will be repeated themes and cross-references among newsletters. As I ponder and grapple, I will not exhaust any topic, and I will not come to any grand solutions that will solve all of our problems. There will be ambiguity and uncertainty. We may never get at the whole story because the story keeps changing and because each strand in the story leads to others. The point is to actively ponder and grapple. Ultimately, I hope that readers will come away with some sense of what is possible if we embrace complexity. I hope that you will come away with ways of thinking systematically about some of the complex issues that beset the world, as well as some of the complex issues that you face in your daily lives.
Complexity is—well, it’s complex. Because complex issues involve multidimensionality, connectedness, and dynamics, we cannot deal with complexity in small doses or reduce it to sound bites. There will thus be some longer posts (but don’t worry, not too long), along with shorter musings. New newsletters will be posted weekly on Monday afternoon.
A Little about Me
I have pondered and grappled with varied complex issues as a person living life in a corner of the world and also professionally as an academic psychologist (hence the focus on human functioning). I am the child of World War II refugees from Europe, and I grew up with my parents and older sister in the northern New Jersey suburbs of New York City. I graduated from Tenafly High School in 1982 and from Johns Hopkins University in 1986. I graduated with a PhD in psychology from Clark University in 1993, and was a professor of psychology from 1995 to 2021 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). As an academic psychologist, I published articles and books, with a focus on development, culture, and theory. At IUP, I was pleased to contribute to the education of mostly first-generation college students. I learned much from them and hope some learned from me. But as the years turned into decades, I found myself increasingly tired and stressed out. I was dissatisfied with academics and even began wondering if I could work outside of the confines of traditional academics. I take a holistic developmental and systems approach to human behavior that put me on the fringes of mainstream psychology. As I was working on a book that was published in 2020 (Exploring the Complexities of Human Action), I started thinking that it represented all that I had left to say within the confines of mainstream academic psychology. I wanted to go beyond those confines. I want to speak to a broader audience and I want to start grappling with some new issues. Hence this newsletter.
Please let me know what you think, what interests you, surprises you, or strikes you. Let me know if you have questions.
On Complexity
There is no escaping it—complexity is everywhere. As people go about their lives in all corners of the world, complexity is always there. Sometimes it lurks, sometimes it hovers, but often it is front and center, whether we like it or not. From, education and healthcare policies, to whether and how to regulate social media, to climate change, racism, income inequality, political divisiveness, de-democratization, terrorism, and globalization, the world is a complex place, full of complex issues and problems. From constructing identity, to finding and keeping a job, to paying the bills, to figuring out why people do what they do, to juggling assignments at work or school, to relationships and raising children, to losing weight and keeping it off, the world is a complex place. Life is complex. People are complex. The Covid-19 pandemic both revealed and brought yet more complexity to a world that was already complex enough before it hit. And then, just as the pandemic seemed to be abating, Russia invaded Ukraine and the world seems even more complex than ever.
I assume that everyone has had to deal with some complex situations, decisions, and issues. Do you find that in some situations, you just don’t know where to begin? And then maybe you find that the situation is evolving and fluid? Or, you find that some issues are not so clear-cut—there is more to it. There is more to it than meets the eye. It’s not the whole story. It’s not so simple. There is nuance. There are gray areas. Have you ever tried to come up with a solution to a problem and found that one size does not fit all? If you answered yes to these questions, you have encountered complexity.
Multiple and Connected Parts
What does it mean to say that something is complex or that complexity is involved? It is useful to start thinking about complexity by identifying its opposite—simplicity. According to my Merriam-Webster dictionary, simple means “single, having one ingredient.” In contrast, a complex phenomenon consists of multiple ingredients or parts. A decision is complex when you have to consider multiple issues. A complex person is multidimensional, and a complex person’s behavior and development involve multiple factors. Our earthly environment is made up of multiple parts from the dirt beneath our feet to the skies above our heads, from mountains, to prairies, to oceans white with foam, to flora and fauna, to the multiple species that inhabit the earth.
But that is not the whole story of complexity. There is more to complexity than multiple parts. According to Merriam-Webster, complex means “having confusingly interrelated parts.” A synonym for complex is “intricate,” which “suggests such interlacing of parts as to make it nearly impossible to follow or grasp them separately.” Complexity thus means that something involves multiple parts that are connected in ways that are not always straightforward to discern, analyze, or understand.
A complex person is complex not only because they are multidimensional, but because their multiple dimensions are connected. For example, anyone’s ways of acting are connected to their cultural circumstances. A person’s behavior is also connected to their relationships with others. What someone does today is connected to their past, as well as to their future. A person’s future plans may be connected to their beliefs and values, which reflect their cultural circumstances and are shaped by some of the people they have interacted with. Decades ago, developmental psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner explained that children develop at the intersection of multiple contexts, such as home and school. We now take it for granted that what is going on at home affects children when they are in school and vice versa. Bronfenbrenner also pointed out that children are connected to—and thus affected by—contexts in which they do not participate directly, such as a parent’s work place. If a parent is having problems at work or is laid off, that can affect how they act at home, which affects a developing child’s experience. And if a teacher is having a bad day in the classroom because of what is going on at home, students are connected to the teacher’s home as well. And it is not just children and their development. Think about how the various contexts of your life are connected, both directly and indirectly. Try as we might, it is not always easy to compartmentalize. A worker is not only a worker. A worker has a life. A person at work is still multidimensional, and what they do at work is inseparable from other aspects of their life, such as arranging childcare, having to care for an elderly parent, ensuring transportation, and managing healthcare.
Certainly, multiple parts of the earth are connected in multiple ways. Climate change shows us how multiple parts of our earthly environment are connected. Arctic ice is melting because of greenhouse gas emissions from around the world. As Arctic ice melts, sea levels rise, which wreaks havoc on coastal communities that may be far away from the Arctic Sea. During the summer of 2021, smoke from severe forest fires in the western US and Canada made its way as far east as New York City.
The pandemic revealed connections galore. We learned that we are all in it together and that what any individual does (e.g., wearing a mask, getting vaccinated) can affect others, which ultimately affects how the virus spreads—or does not spread—throughout the multiple and connected parts of the world. We saw how closing one store or restaurant in a neighborhood can affect individuals and other businesses in varied ways. We learned about the connectedness of global distribution chains. Remember what happened when one ship got stuck in the Suez Canal in March 2021? It blocked shipping traffic through the canal for six days, leaving over 300 ships waiting in line to get through the canal. It delayed goods from getting around the world and brought billions of dollars in trade to an abrupt halt. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/29/world/suez-canal-stuck-ship
The war in Ukraine also involves multiple worldwide connections, including economic, national security, foreign policy, and domestic political issues. Russia is one of the world’s major suppliers of oil and natural gas, and Europe is particularly energy-dependent on Russia. Within Europe, Germany is a major customer. When Russia invaded Ukraine, the price of oil surged around the world and stock markets fell. To decrease Europe’s dependence on Russian oil and gas, the US agreed to supply them with more natural gas, thereby strengthening already strong connections between the US and Europe. When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, parts of China were on lockdown due to new Covid outbreaks, and thus China was buying less oil from Russia at the moment, which also contributed to higher oil prices. In addition to trade connections, China and Russia are connected in antipathy toward the US. However, China is connected to the US and Europe through trade on a larger scale than its trade with Russia. Can China have it both ways and maintain connections to both Russia and the US? It turns out that Ukraine makes about half of the world’s supply of neon, which is used to make semi-conductors, which are used in electronics, and have been in short supply since the pandemic. The war is also affecting worldwide food supplies as Ukraine and Russia grow and export about 30% of the world’s wheat. Prices of wheat around the world are rising, and the food shortages that exist in some parts of the world are exacerbated.
https://www.wired.com/story/the-war-in-ukraine-is-threatening-the-breadbasket-of-europe/
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/20/world/americas/ukraine-war-global-food-crisis.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/opinion/germany-russ ia-ukraine-gas.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/24/opinion/why-is-europe-still-buying-oil-from-putin.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/02/world/europe/russia-un-invasion-condemn.html
The rapid spread of the virus around the world, as well as the worldwide repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are due in part to the massive worldwide connections that currently comprise our globalized world. Globalization is all about connections among multiple parts of the world. Diplomat and foreign relations expert Richard Haas (2020) defines globalization as “the emergence of an increasingly interconnected world marked by greater flows across borders of workers, tourists, ideas, emails, oil and gas, television and radio signals, data, prescription and illicit drugs, terrorists, migrants and refugees, weapons, viruses (computer and biological), carbon dioxide and other gases, food, dollars and other currencies, tweets, and a good deal else” (p. 159). Within this context, everyone is ultimately connected to everyone else in some way. Not only are some connections vast, but thanks to the internet, they are also fast. Thus, a video can go viral around the world in seconds and a virus can spread around the world in days.
Dynamic Parts
In addition to defining complex/complexity in terms of multidimensionality and connectedness, I will add a third dimension to complexity—dynamics. Varied aspects of the world are confusing and difficult to understand because they are dynamic. According to Merriam-Webster, a dynamic phenomenon is characterized by “continuous and productive activity or change.” As such, a dynamic phenomenon consists of ongoing processes that can be played out in varied and changing ways. Dynamics are everywhere and contribute to the complexity of the world. Situations are fluid and evolving. There are so many moving parts to the world. There are ups and downs, there are ebbs and flows. Stuff happens. Stuff happens unexpectedly.
Human functioning is certainly dynamic as people act in varied ways in varied contexts in relation to varied people. People change and develop throughout their lives. Climate change is occurring because of ongoing dynamic environmental processes. The pandemic was and still is dynamic. It started with one form of the corona virus and then mutated several times. After several months of rising infections in the US, the infection rate decreased, only to go up and down again. Infections rose and fell at different rates in different parts of the world at different times. Infected people experienced Covid-19 in varied and changing ways. At first, transmission was not so well-understood and people were wiping down surfaces and every object that came into the house with Clorox. I admit to it—I was doing a lot of wiping down. When research showed that transmission occurs mostly through respiratory droplets, I decreased and eventually stopped wiping everything down with Clorox. Also with regard to transmission and dynamics, research shows that “Transmissibility is not fixed: It can vary based on a population’s behavior, demographics, and health.” https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/28/opinion/herd-immunity-covid-us.html?searchResultPosition=1 Pandemic dynamics were (and still are) evident in the different and changing ways that people dealt with (and continue to deal with) the pandemic. At the end of March 2022, scientists who study virus evolution posited some expectations for the future of coronavirus, but they could not say exactly how its dynamics would play out. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/03/28/opinion/coronavirus-mutation-future.html And I suppose war is about as dynamic as it gets.
The World is a Complex Place
So, I think of a complex phenomenon as one that is made up of multiple, connected, and dynamic parts that are not always straightforward to discern, analyze, or understand. Understanding complexity and thinking complexly about the world involve thinking about multidimensionality, connectedness, and dynamics.
When you have to think about many varied, connected, and dynamic factors, it can quickly get quite overwhelming. It is easy to look the other way. We may acknowledge complexity, and then sweep it under the rug because there just isn’t time to deal with it now. But we are out of time. Much is at stake for the world and for individuals. Now is the time to embrace complexity and deal with it. We need a way to deal with complexity without getting too overwhelmed by it.
Before moving on, I want to clarify what I mean by “the world.” When I think about the world and its complexities, I sometimes think of the universe and I sometimes think of my little corner of the world. I sometimes think about different countries and people around the world. The world encompasses the sun, as well as everything under, above, and around the sun. That includes cities, towns, and villages; countries and governments; economies and the stock market; the earth and other planets. The world encompasses anything that makes up your daily life, my life, or anyone’s life. For me right now, my life world includes varied inanimate objects, processes, and living creatures, from the chair I am sitting on (made by a wonderful local woodworker) and the computer I am using, to a car screeching down the street and the birds chirping in the trees, to the chocolate in the kitchen drawer that I want to eat, to a dog barking in the distance, to the people I Zoomed with this morning and the people I think about who are not immediately present. I could go on and on, but it is not particularly useful to try to list every aspect of the universe or anyone’s particular world. The point is that the world can be understood on the grand scale of the universe, as well as on a smaller scale of whatever people deal with as they go about their lives in particular places. Sometimes you might focus on relatively small-scale world issues, and sometimes you may focus on relatively grand-scale world issues. And sometimes, you are concerned with both grand-scale and small-scale world issues because any small-scale world is part of the grand-scale world.
Next Week
How then can we think about grand-scale-world and small-scale-world complexity in a systematic and organized way? How can we deal with the complex issues that face us as we go about our lives in all corners of the world? Where do we start? My answer is… (drum roll)… Systems Theory!
Why systems theory? I start with systems theory because it defines systems complexly and holistically in terms of multiple, connected, and dynamic parts. I start with systems theory because the world is made up of intertwined systems, from the solar system to the global economic system, to any country’s healthcare system, criminal justice system, and education system, to the systems that make up human bodies, such as the cardiovascular system and the endocrine system. And those systems are but a fraction of the systems that comprise us and our complex world. Dealing with the world’s complexities thus requires dealing with systems.
Before I end this newsletter, I want to say a few words about theories and implore you not to be put off by the prospect of using a theory. I know that some people are skeptical of theories. After all, anyone can come up with a theory, and for some, theories are “just” theories. Do you know Joe who has a theory about X, or did you ever claim to have a theory about X, Y, or Z? Such theories are a dime a dozen. But then there is also the other extreme, where theories are a sign of erudition and highly sophisticated scientific understanding. Scientific theories are supposed to generate specific hypotheses that can be tested through experimentation. Some readers may be wary of, or even intimidated by starting this whole endeavor theoretically. Maybe you are imagining a lot of multi-syllabic terms, along with mathematical symbols, equations, and calculations. Don’t worry—there won’t be any math and I will use concrete examples and relate theoretical claims to real-life situations. I do not think of systems theory as “just” a theory and I also do not think of it as a hoity-toity sign of sophisticated erudition. I see and use systems theory as an overarching framework or perspective for understanding some of the world’s complexities. It provides a useful way of looking at and dealing with the world. It is a great way to start grappling with complexity.
Some Questions to Think and Comment About
What do you think? What interested you, what struck you, what surprised you?
What complex aspects of the world are you particularly interested in or concerned about? How do they involve multiple, connected, and dynamic parts?
What are some of the complex issues that you encounter and are trying to deal with? How do they involve multiple, connected, and dynamic parts?
What questions do you have about any of this?
Non-Electronic Reference
Haas, R. (2020). The world: A brief introduction. New York: Penguin Press.
Thanks to everyone who read today. I received a report that Safari does not recognize this Comment link. I don't know what the issue is. I'll look into it.
This is a good review of complexity. My question is: how do we avoid allowing the very consciousness of complexity to paralyze us?