The Law of Complexity

“A pattern is more complex the more individual parts it has, which through relation with one another make up the pattern.”

The law of complexity consists of two parts:

  1. Emergent Properties:
    When a new pattern is formed, it is possible for this pattern to have properties that are not present in the individual points that make it up.

  2. Diversity through Destruction:
    Most patterns are not stable and will decay at a rapid rate (Entropy). Yet some patterns will be stable and even able to grow. More basic patterns can continue to exist after the more complex structures they were part of are destroyed. These surviving patterns can then reconnect (often in different ways) and thus increase diversity.

    However, a given increase in entropy (and thus in complexity) is not guaranteed by the Law of Complexity; it is merely a possibility and depends on the continued existence of Existence.

A good example of the Law of Complexity is Evolution:

Life on Earth is subject to constant change, manifesting not only in the deaths of old and births of new organisms but also in mass destruction events. These events wipe out a majority of life on the planet; yet, from what remains, new complexity arises.

This is, in fact, how the law of complexity operates throughout our entire universe. Consider primeval stars: these existed before the universe as we know it today. They were much larger than even the largest stars we see now. Some of them even contained black holes that slowly consumed the star from within. Once they inevitably exploded, their destruction created new atoms—the building blocks of our current universe.

Read next: Space-Time