Why simple systems become complex?

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” — Leonardo da Vinci

 As a self-professed "simplifier" I have great interest in simplicity. More often than not, my job involves simplifying complex things into formats which fit easily into people's minds.

This has driven me to the question - why does complexity arise? Most systems are simple to begin with - but over time they become complex.

Why do simple systems 'de-generate' into complex ones? Is it natural of the systems to become so?

 “Nature is pleased with simplicity.” — Isaac Newton

If you look at nature the evolutionary biologists tell us that we evolved from single cell organism to this complex mammal. Essentially doing the same kind of things in the body which simple single cell organisms do - ingesting food, converting it into energy and reproducing. Is it in the nature of things to become complex? Do we as human beings expect things to become complex as we evolve? I am interested in how simple things tend to become complex over a period of time.

Let us take an example of road traffic. Initially, it was just people moving about on beaten paths on land. Since there probably weren't too many of us in one place, managing traffic was of no consequence - so as long as you did not walk/run in to someone, there weren't many rules required. A simple system with no rules required.

Then came the wheel. Now there were animal drawn vehicles that were indeed much faster than walking humans. These vehicles introduced different level of complexity. First was, how wide should a path be? That most likely, started with as wide as the cart. And path probably got created by the carts rolling over an over on the same place.

Now what? We have a method to move faster. We have a path which can take you from point A to point B. Now we need some rules, to avoid collisions, safe method to overtake, letting people cross the path, a way for paths to cross each other….and so on and on till this day we are finding better ways to move from point A to point B on the road.

Compare today's systems of moving from point A to point B - to before the invention of the wheel.

There is always an ongoing effort to simplify systems, or at least put a layer of simplicity on top of a complex system. Think how a well-designed application user interface, hides the complexity behind it.

And my struggle towards simplifying continues ...

“For every problem there is a solution which is simple, clean and wrong.” — Henry Louis Mencken