Complexity

A sustainable life, and further, a sustainable world, is complex. Given the human's desire to move toward that which is easier, it is no wonder that oil fueled machines are a welcome relief from the drudgery of manual labour.

Even cleaning out the garage as a youth wasn't exactly a welcome task. It wasn't a huge job, just not stimulating or particularly rewarding. Yet, completing that job, I did feel a small glow of satisfaction.

In the same way, doing the hard work of the math or physics related to the movements of groups of people takes a certain amount of elbow grease. Walking or biking rather than taking the car may mean getting sweaty, or going out in the rain. Yet, taking the step through the physical difficulty, can leave one with the glow of satisfaction at the end.

Jeffrey Kluger, in his book Simplexity (above, right) works through examples and explains some of the math as to why some simple things are complex and how to understand them.