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Is this perhaps just an error in confusing relative and absolute terms? That is to say, being that we know that simple rules can generate complex results, it is
by tolmasky 7y ago
Is this perhaps just an error in confusing relative and absolute terms? That is to say, being that we know that simple rules can generate complex results, it is thus possible (likely?) that a series of complex results will result from simpler rules, making them seem "simple". In other words, given any set of rules X, the results Y will often naturally be more complex, such that C(X) < C(Y), leading to the after-the-fact mis-interpretation that the rules themselves are simple, vs. the more accurate, but certainly less exciting, statement that they are mere simpler.
- dreamcompiler 7y agoComplex behavior doesn't just come from simple rules. That only happens when the rules are nonlinear. Complex behavior could also come from very complicated rules.
- tolmasky 7y agoSure, and my comment in no way disallows that. My point is that there seems to be an assumption that complex behavior comes from complex rules, vs. the complexity of the behavior being assumed to have no necessary relation to the complexity of the rule-set. As such, we go in with an inherent bias of expecting complex rules, which leads the rules to often appear simpler than they are.