Comments on: What gives you a feeling of complexity? http://bigbigquestion.com/2008/03/26/what-gives-you-a-feeling-of-complexity/ Question As Conversation Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:53:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: TwoWordReview http://bigbigquestion.com/2008/03/26/what-gives-you-a-feeling-of-complexity/#comment-1823 TwoWordReview Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:28:34 +0000 http://bigbigquestion.com/2008/03/26/what-gives-you-a-feeling-of-complexity/#comment-1823 If we were to stick to the biology/psychology end of the topic (and that's certainly not the only way to approach this question) then I would say it also has to do with the way our brains are in a way pattern matching machines. So the logical parts of our brain are overloaded with information, but it is still trying to see patterns nonetheless. So it seems like we 'know' there is some meaning there but we just can't process it. If we were to stick to the biology/psychology end of the topic (and that’s certainly not the only way to approach this question) then I would say it also has to do with the way our brains are in a way pattern matching machines. So the logical parts of our brain are overloaded with information, but it is still trying to see patterns nonetheless. So it seems like we ‘know’ there is some meaning there but we just can’t process it.

]]> By: grumblebee http://bigbigquestion.com/2008/03/26/what-gives-you-a-feeling-of-complexity/#comment-1821 grumblebee Thu, 27 Mar 2008 01:17:47 +0000 http://bigbigquestion.com/2008/03/26/what-gives-you-a-feeling-of-complexity/#comment-1821 I think you're partly right about the seven (plus or minus two) thing, but there's more to it. When numbers become two-many-to-grasp, sometimes it just seems like confusion. Other times it evokes the infinite. What's the extra ingredient(s) that leads to awe? I think you’re partly right about the seven (plus or minus two) thing, but there’s more to it. When numbers become two-many-to-grasp, sometimes it just seems like confusion. Other times it evokes the infinite. What’s the extra ingredient(s) that leads to awe?

]]> By: TwoWordReview http://bigbigquestion.com/2008/03/26/what-gives-you-a-feeling-of-complexity/#comment-1819 TwoWordReview Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:40:45 +0000 http://bigbigquestion.com/2008/03/26/what-gives-you-a-feeling-of-complexity/#comment-1819 <i>I do wonder about the minimum amount of information needed to create the illusion of vastness, great depth, the oceanic, the infinite…</i> Actually you're quite close - the answer is actually <a href="http://www.musanim.com/miller1956/" title="The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information by George A. Miller">seven (plus or minus two)</a> according to George A. Miller. This is supposedly the number of separate data that we can process at any given time. I do wonder about the minimum amount of information needed to create the illusion of vastness, great depth, the oceanic, the infinite…

Actually you’re quite close - the answer is actually seven (plus or minus two) according to George A. Miller. This is supposedly the number of separate data that we can process at any given time.

]]> By: ssg http://bigbigquestion.com/2008/03/26/what-gives-you-a-feeling-of-complexity/#comment-1818 ssg Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:54:18 +0000 http://bigbigquestion.com/2008/03/26/what-gives-you-a-feeling-of-complexity/#comment-1818 I'm not sure if this is generalizable to other art forms beyond music, but I'd say that feelings of complexity arise from a large and varied set of relations between things, rather than a large set of things themselves. For example, Coltrane's <i>Giant Steps</i> feels very complex because of the complex harmonic relationships between notes and chords, not because Coltrane plays a lot of notes (the same goes for bebop in general, but Coltrane takes it further than anyone else). Steve Reich's <i>Clapping Music</i> or any of his <i>Phase</i> pieces are more extreme examples: the complexity of the temporal relationships between notes emerges from the simple patterns. I think you could say the same thing about language. Shakespeare is great (and complex) because of the way he deals with relationships between words and phrases. Postmodernism explores the relationships between bits of culture. I’m not sure if this is generalizable to other art forms beyond music, but I’d say that feelings of complexity arise from a large and varied set of relations between things, rather than a large set of things themselves. For example, Coltrane’s Giant Steps feels very complex because of the complex harmonic relationships between notes and chords, not because Coltrane plays a lot of notes (the same goes for bebop in general, but Coltrane takes it further than anyone else). Steve Reich’s Clapping Music or any of his Phase pieces are more extreme examples: the complexity of the temporal relationships between notes emerges from the simple patterns.

I think you could say the same thing about language. Shakespeare is great (and complex) because of the way he deals with relationships between words and phrases. Postmodernism explores the relationships between bits of culture.

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