Complex Is Not the Same as Complicated We often say that something is complex when it is merely difficult or complicated

In everyday language, we often say something is complex when it is merely difficult or complicated. A complex system is very different from a complicated one. 

In the language of complexity, the engine on a Boeing 747 is complicated, but it is not complex. On the other hand, the human brain is complex.

If you wish to understand a machine such as a 747, you can take it apart, a process called reductionism, and you can study the individual pieces to see how they work. When you put all those pieces back together again, you have an understanding of the whole.

However, with a complex system such as a human being, a perfect understanding of the individual parts does not convey a complete knowledge of the whole system’s behavior.

7 Differences between complex and complicated

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