Came up with a satisfying definition of a complex system that I should have thought of years ago.
A system is a complex system when fixing 1 bug on average causes 1 new bug to emerge somewhere else in the system.
I call it the whack-a-mole complexity threshold.
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What if every fix introduces slightly more than 1 new bug on average? Is there a way to stop the runaway trend without burning it to the ground & starting over?
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For software, this phenomenon is a consequence of programmers reaching for "easy", when they should be reaching for "simple".
"Simple" is hard.
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