WORDBOX. Complessità

Wordbox - Complessità
by Andrea Brunello

The world seems to be decipherable for us. Even the most mysterious and obscure phenomena can be explained under the right conditions. Faith in reason, in our deductive abilities, in science and technology have enabled us to reach a very high level of understanding of phenomena that were previously mysterious and inexplicable, leaving room for an animistic and imaginative dimension of reality.

Nevertheless, our existence is characterised as never before by wars, extreme polarisation, denial, inequalities, fundamentalism and, above all, the threat of immense catastrophes such as nuclear, health and environmental disasters. What is it that we don't understand? What is it that escapes us? What is it that eludes our rational thinking?

Since the middle of the last century, scientists have recognised that there are events that cannot be predicted despite knowledge of the fundamental mechanisms that control them. Scientists call this class of events ‘complex phenomena’. They represent the sum of numerous simple and precisely known phenomena that become unpredictable and surprising in their joint behaviour.


Based on the relationship between a father and his daughter, Complexity tells of a relationship that has been layered by the ‘complexity’ of life. The father, a mathematician who deals with complex phenomena and the computer game ‘Game of Life’, is unable to build a relationship with his daughter and the world in general. The daughter, confused by the complexity of the world, has to make painful decisions that change her life. From this particular story, the play proposes a universal commentary: If we do not embrace the complexity that dominates our collective existence, how can we ever hope to manage it?