Simplicity and complexity are not as different as you might think. Simplicity breeds complexity. All concepts masquerading as simple usually have a complex inner working. No civilization on Earth can live without an equal balance of these two concepts.

In the Pakistani community, the lines between simplicity and complexity are blurred. The values taught to us at home revolve around simplicity, and so many of us see issues as black or white. Questions about religion, politics and other topics usually have a binary “yes or no” answer. Many Pakistanis do not see that there is so much more to an issue. And many things in Pakistan are taken as simple at face value. The social hierarchy in this country is a good example. When we see the domestic help in our houses, we are told that they were just unlucky to be born into a poor family. We do not consider the factors behind why they are poor, we just accept what society tells us.

However, it is not really that simple. Many of the systems in place in Pakistan have a very complex basis. There are often many reasons for the different issues that we think are black and white. The social system, for example, has hidden inner workings. The reasons many families live in poverty is the debt accumulated by their family before them. Similarly, Pakistani politics is not as binary as we would like to think. Our politicians work behind the scenes, out of the public eye, to hide many of their wrongdoings and to highlight their success. Pakistan’s culture itself is very complex, yet our people find it to be very simple. This goes to show that the wall between simplicity and complexity is very thin.

A complexity is actually many simplicities blended together in the right order. When done perfectly, a complex concept can be seen as simple. This is how our community teaches us to value complexity. We are told to appreciate the simple things in life so that we can read between the lines of those simple concepts and see them for what they really are.