Jonathan Waxes Philosophical
One of the things we strive for in the communications industry is simplicity.
Or, to put it another way, reduction.
In an optimal marketing equation, everything is reducible, everything is simple.
Take for example, the brain.
Now you might reflexively say that the brain is anything but simple. Yet when you look at a single neuron, a single synapse, it’s a rather rudimentary circuit. The complication comes when you multiply these base components by the billions. Suddenly, through nothing more than volume, simplicity gives way to complexity.
IBM knows it.
They’ve been able to replicate simple brain sequences. So they thought, why not put those sequences in a powerful cortical simulator and generate a full, working model of a mammalian brain.
Trouble is, even though the simulation works, they can’t seem to figure out how.
Upon reaching a certain level of complexity, the model becomes just as abstruse as the genuine article. And it doesn’t just happen with cognitive science.
McDonalds tests everything. Every burger, every secret sauce. They test single-blind, double-blind, focus groups, massive regional trials. A sandwich is simple. But a billion sandwiches are inexplicably complex.
Which is why despite all that testing, you still see phenomenal product failures like the Arch Deluxe.
And this is our fate in the modern world. From Adam and Eve to the most chaotic, unpredictable system in the universe.
But enough about D.C. traffic patterns.
Here’s to a safer — and simpler — new year.
