SIMPLEXITY: WHY SIMPLE THINGS BECOME COMPLEX (AND HOW COMPLEX THINGS CAN BE MADE SIMPLE)

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It's a hit!

This book gets 4 stars because it is entertaining, informative, and brief enough to not be laborious. If you like books that deal with a conceptual... (show more)

This book gets 4 stars because it is entertaining, informative, and brief enough to not be laborious. If you like books that deal with a conceptual idea and then provides many examples so that you can have stuff to talk about afterwards, this should fit the bill. Is it the best in the genre, no. But is it not bad, and fairly interesting. Yes.

It did not get 5 stars, because it is not the sort of book that all lovers of this genre will enjoy, namely because of the book's structure and the wording of the subtitle. First, there is some validity to the reviewer that suggests the chapters are a bit disjointed. However, I didn't mind this. I felt the different questions which formed the title/thesis and "disjointedness" allowed the book not to be overly repetitive, a failing of many of the books in this genre of leisure non-fiction. That said, a friend of mine who read the book also remarked that the book felt too all over the map and so, I can not give the book 5 stars.

The second minor issue, as pointed out by another reviewer, is that the author does not fulfill all the claims of the title. The author does not explain "How complex things can be made simple", at least, not in any direct manner. There are hints that his point is that the human mind somehow reduces complex action into something simple, but that most are unaware that they are doing something rather complex. However, those that think this book is about HOW to make something complex simple, would be better off in Business, "How to", Speech and debate sections.

4 stars is a solid rating though, as it does fulfill the title and the first half of the subtitle, which is no small task. The book introduces the concept of simplexity in a number of different formats. It is quite fascinating to think about how the brain processes and learns. It's fascinating to see that monetary value and actual skills value do not quite mesh. Kluger introduces a number of interesting studies that are rather pertinent despite being in a variety of different disciplines. It definitely made me consider what exactly is the going on with the man v. machine debate.

If you are working directly in the man vs. machine debate as your job or academic discipline, that this book may be good for you to read so that you will have an even better ability to articulate these complex concepts to the average human being. It will most likely not tell you anything you don't know. If you are not in this discipline, than I would guess you could find this as interesting as other books within this genre of non-fiction. (show less)

 

 

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No, it's a flop!

It’s not very often I put a book down refusing to finish it. But in the case of this book by Mr. Kluger I had to…multiple times. Not because I los... (show more)

It’s not very often I put a book down refusing to finish it. But in the case of this book by Mr. Kluger I had to…multiple times. Not because I lost interest in the topic of the book, but because, quite simply, the author seemed to have forgotten what he was discussing. Ultimately I bore down and finished the book in the the hopes that there would be a wonderful chapter near the end which would bring it all back together and tie the author’s rambling mess up in a nice little bow. Unfortunately my hopes were dashed.

The book has not been without the occasionally interesting insight, but Mr. Kluger appears to have become lost within his topic. It starts at the very beginning when he attempts to define ‘complexity’ and ’simpicity’. Ultimately his answer to the question “Is system X complex or simple?” seems to be “Yes!” At the end of the book Mr. Kluger seems to restate his position: a system’s complexity depends entirely on one’s point of view in examining the system. To emphasize his point Mr. Kluger argues at the beginning of the book that the pencil can be viewed as an extremely complex ’system’ when you take into account it’s supply chain and manufacturing process.

Which brings me to my first response to Mr. Kluger: So what? Such an approach makes any discussion of ‘complexity’ practically meaningless. So what’s the point of your book?

This is why I think his book is misnamed. Mr. Kluger should have connected with Frans Johansson, author of The Medici Effect, and titled his book “My Trip to the Intersection”. Simplexity reads more like a trip report to a really cool think tank not a thorough discussion of the study of complexity itself.

Kluger gives account of topic after topic where scientists are bringing multi-discipline approaches to unique studies. Ultimately Simplexity is more about the power of the intersection than it is about the study of complexity. And that is where I think this book can have some value. If you’re looking for a study of complexity and the trends which drive us toward complex solutions then avoid this book. If you’re interested in the power of the intersection or just some interesting reading, then pick it up and enjoy! (show less)

 

 

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  From Publishers Weekly
  Frustrated by the traffic on narrow bridges? Stunned by the number of buttons on a remote control? Saddened by the lack of basic medical care in the developing world? Kluger (Splendid Solutions) makes the modern world comprehensible, analyzing social and technological systems to reveal that things that seem complicated can be preposterously simple; things that seem simple can be dizzyingly complex. He compares cells to cities to stock markets, renders quarks and fracta... (show more)

  From Publishers Weekly
  Frustrated by the traffic on narrow bridges? Stunned by the number of buttons on a remote control? Saddened by the lack of basic medical care in the developing world? Kluger (Splendid Solutions) makes the modern world comprehensible, analyzing social and technological systems to reveal that things that seem complicated can be preposterously simple; things that seem simple can be dizzyingly complex. He compares cells to cities to stock markets, renders quarks and fractals accessible and draws parallels between Wal-Mart and AIDS clinics in Tanzania. Although Kluger is prone to hyperbole, his astonishing discoveries require no exaggeration: the book describes how even the most technologically advanced manufacturing plant is infinitely simpler than a humble houseplant with its microhydraulics and fine-tuned metabolism and dense schematic of nucleic acids—and baseball fans will be dismayed to discover that football is, in fact, the more complex of the two games: the possible number of starting configurations before the play even begins is... 31.4 billion. Kluger's findings are likely to incite controversy, confirming his contention that explaining simplicity and complexity is never as straightforward as it seems. (June)
  Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. (show less)

   

   

  by John Bacon on Feb 11, 2009 at 01:32AM

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  I thought this book was going to be a lot better, but it really wasnt. It is a discourse on how simpleness and complexity are completely contingent on point of view, but doesn't really provide much in terms of meat. It just jumps around from topic to topic and intersperses praise for the Santa Fe Institute for their research on complexity.

  The parodoxical thinking that was introduced in the first sections were quickly abandoned in favor of a bunch of meandering essays which in no way di... (show more)

  I thought this book was going to be a lot better, but it really wasnt. It is a discourse on how simpleness and complexity are completely contingent on point of view, but doesn't really provide much in terms of meat. It just jumps around from topic to topic and intersperses praise for the Santa Fe Institute for their research on complexity.

  The parodoxical thinking that was introduced in the first sections were quickly abandoned in favor of a bunch of meandering essays which in no way did anything more than scratch the surface of several issues.

  This one isnt going to make my bookshelf. (show less)

   

   

  by Mike Cernuto on Jul 14, 2009 at 04:38AM

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