The ‘Simplifier’ vs the ‘Complexifier’
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The ‘Simplifier’ vs the ‘Complexifier’

Posted by on May 18, 2012 in The Thought | 17 comments

The author, Natasha Sohail is in the last year of her O Levels at LGS. She likes to call herself a “pure Karachite” and think she is quite patriotic but not the psycho kind. She has a passion for writing and taking pictures of the sky.

There are hundreds of ways to categorize the two types of people in the world. And just in case the universe is somehow in danger of being curtailed without another, here it is:

There are two kinds of people: people that complexify things and those who simplify them.
Albert Einstein once said: “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex… It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.”

Those who have a habit of complicating things are averse to reduction. Their instincts make them turn simple tasks into perplex problems, and to reject simple ideas until they have been buried in layers of abstraction. These are the people who write twenty page long specifications when a picture will do and send extensive e-mails when one phone call would suffice.

When they see x=y, they want to play with it and show their talents, taking immense pleasure in creating the unnecessary 24x*z = k*24y*z. They take pride in consuming more time, and patience than needed, and expect to be showered with compliments each time.

The simplifiers are to these “complexifiers” what light is to darkness. They thrive on concision. They look for the 20x=20y in the world, and happily turn it into x=y. They never let the need to be extraordinary get in the way of the short path. When you give them seemingly complicated tasks they simplify, consolidate and re-interpret on instinct, naturally seeking the simplest way to achieve what needs to be done. They find ways to communicate complex ideas in simple terms without losing the ideas essence or power.

I don’t know what makes a person fall into either pile, it could be in their genes, could be a force of habit, or even experience, but I do know the answer to the question that inevitably follows: “Which is better?” The answer is none. Behind the two major types of people is a hidden third. Synthesizing the complexifiers and the simplifiers produces the perfect product, the Ideal.

To truly “live life” in the world, a person must become the Ideal. So what two types define society? It is the complex, the simple, and—the underlying Ideal.

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