Simplicity arises from complexity

Phenomena with probabilistic outcomes can seem chaotic and unpredictable on the micro-level, but at the macro scale their trends become clear.

  • The law of large numbers: as the number of trials approaches infinity, the relative frequency of observed outcomes will approach their probability.
  • Sociology: Individuals can make strange or unpredictable choices, or have uncommon outcomes, but at scale systemic influences on those choices become visible.
  • Quantum mechanics is a little unhinged, but newtonian mechanics is pretty simple and makes sense.1

See also complexity from simplicity.

Footnotes

  1. As long as stuff isn't moving too fast or slow and isn't too big or small. ↩

< Home