Simplexity

How come, with everything now making our lives simpler, everything now seems more complex?
I call it simplexity: a complex simplicity. (I know, but ‘complicity’ already exists…)
Everything obviously does not make our lives simpler if it makes it more complex. This is because simpler does not equal less complex. In fact, simpler now usually equals more complex. It may be simpler for me but the mechanics will be more complex. I press a button and the car window goes down. I press a button and I call a friend in a China. So it is simpler for me to do more things but I have less understanding of how the things are done. And when the things break down then I have no clue how to fix them.
So everything is not making our life simpler, we are simply introducing more things -complex things- into it allowing us to do ever more things.
God, I miss the good old days when things were simple and we missed the previous good old days when things were even simpler...

The Right to be Lazy

Paul Lafargue in The Right to be Lazy argued that laziness, combined with human creativity, was an important source of human progress.
He was a Cuban-born French revolutionary Marxist, which sounds quite busy.

Robert Louis Stevenson in An Apology for Idlers wrote, 'There is a sort of dead-alive, hackneyed people about, who are scarcely conscious of living except in the exercise of some conventional occupation. (…) It is no good speaking to such folk: they cannot be idle, their nature is not generous enough; and they pass those hours in a sort of coma, which are not dedicated to furious moiling in the gold-mill. When they do not require to go to the office, when they are not hungry and have no mind to drink, the whole breathing world is a blank to them.' 

I need time to think about it. 

Oh, I don't have any...

Tastefully Bland

'Capitalism has made modern life ugly,' said the first.
'The relentless focus on maximising profits has left no room for true aesthetics,' said the second.
'Beauty is now nothing but a marketing differentiator,' said the third.
'And art has become a conspicuous consumption for social status,' said the fourth.
We all nodded.
'What do you think?' said the first, turning to me.
'Well,' I started, 'I... uh... well, beauty should be above utility, but isn't that the utility of beauty?'
They stared at me
'That's funny,' said the second.
I laughed. More out of relief.
'Yes, but what do you really think?' asked the first.

On-line But Off-course

'Hey Max.'

'Hey Max, what’s up?'

'I’m worried that my on-line personal branding campaign isn’t compelling.'

'Oh no, that means that you are decreasing your sphere of influence and diminishing your value.'

'Cripes. What should I do?'

'You need to decide on your core message and the right channels through which to communicate your brand.'

'You mean I need to create engagement around my strategic priorities?'

'Yes, but don’t spread yourself too thinly across irrelevant communities.'

'Thanks. Uh, or…'

'Or what?'

'We could go outside and kick a ball?'

'Great idea, let’s go!'

Thought Leadership

'Look, it’s that thought leader!'
'Who?'
'That guy, the one who’s recognised as being the expert in the field.'
'Really? How come?'
‘Because he wrote a book about it.'
‘Was he a thought leader when he wrote the book?'
‘No.'
'So he became a thought leader because he wrote a book?'
‘Sorry?’
'He became a thought leader because of a book he wrote when he wasn't a thought leader?'
'Yeah, I guess so.'
‘Now, that’s a thought leader!’

I Blame Causality

Flattering My Stupidity

"It’s dumbed down."

"No it’s not, it’s just simplified to make it more accessible."

"Well, it’s so simple now that it has removed all the complex issues."

"Why do I need to know the complex bits?"

"Because they are integral to the subject. You need to understand all the elements and grasp them in their complexity."

"But I don’t understand them."

"That's the point. It's supposed to challenge you, to make you think, to make you learn."

"I don't get that, can you simplify it?"