Overcomplicated: Technology at the Limits of Comprehension

We build systems (software, legal frameworks, etc) and we keep adding features and exceptions to them, each addition triggering an exponential increase of interactions between individual parts. And that's when we lose the ability to understand or anticipate all possible pathways through the system. Our systems and technologies become black boxes.

Once our technological creations reach such high complexities that we don't understand them anymore, we either resort to fear or awe (the modern day sublime). Plus unexpected behaviour and/or bugs creep in and we simply can't make sense of them anymore. Arbesam makes the point that we need to find ways of keeping up with our creations, by becoming T-shaped people (specialist with generalist knowledge) and by designing more transparent, more easily-readable systems (see “explainable A.I.”)

This is a pretty fascinating topic. The book could have maybe used some harsh editing and could have worked better as an elongated essay, but all in all he's collecting interesting points.