When Complexity Exceeds Wisdom

I was recently listening to a podcast interview between Steve Paikin and historian Margaret McMillan. Paikin is a stellar interviewer and McMillan is a learned, wise, and well-researched historian whose perspective on disruptive times in history I value.

My hope was that someone like Margaret McMillan, who wrote the book Paris 1919 about another volitile time in history, might have some wisdom to share about our current state of affairs to guide our thinking. I was somewhat surprised to hear that she did not — at least, she didn’t have a clear sense of analysis of the situation that might help me navigate things.

That’s the thing with complexity; it doesn’t submit to analysis.

Nevertheless, I’d hoped there might be a pattern from history that could offer a small sense of what we might expect or facilitate during these days. McMillan, drawing on a career of research and reflection and her 82 years of life, only provided examples that she admitted didn’t quite fit the current times. Paikin, the interviewer, drew on the quote attributed to Mark Twain that said:

“History doesn’t repeat Itself, but it often rhymes”

When someone as experienced as Margaret McMillan gets flummoxed by the current state of affairs, it says something about what we’re in.

I’ve been trying to learn from wise people — historians, political analysts, psychologists, philosophers and scientists – who say much of the same thing: we’re in some uncharted territory. The ryhme isn’t syncing.

Beyond Wisdom

Have we exceeded our wisdom with complexity?

Consider some of what we’re seeing in 2026 (the time of this writing). The first part of each sentence reflects things we’ve experienced before, the second part is what is making the complexity in these times what it is.

Artificial intelligence is reworking business models for nearly every information-driven service or product line with the capacity to self-generate more information that may not be verifiable, at a speed and scale never before seen.

AI is also creating a surge of information content that’s being propelled and shared by both people and AI-agents that is also unverifiable, often demonstrably false, at a speed and scale never before seen, delivered globally in real time.

To add to that, this information is being delivered through channels into people’s consciousness (and thus, culture) in real time, in ways that are unverifiable, at a speed, scale, and scope never before experienced.

This information is also being engineered and manipulated through the infrastructure we are now reliant upon for basic communications, commerce, and (for many), their livelihoods in ways that can’t be circumvented and are unique to each person’s situation.

Our climate is changing in ways that are verifiable, but unpredictable, at a speed, scale and scope never before seen.

I’m not mentioning the social and political upheaval we’re seeing right now. But what’s different now is that the social unrest, wars, policy-making, and political games-making, is being shared live, 24/7. It’s not just us consuming it, it’s that those around us are and they are sharing, talking about it, and reacting to it. Whether we like it or not, agree or not, it is getting increasingly difficult to find an island of sanity in a world of overwhelming complexity.

The Challenge for Complexity Practice

Another issue compounding all of this is the rise of faux wisdom. I can’t open up my email (newsletters), social media channels (e.g., LinkedIn), or see something in a feed that doesn’t have commentary, evidence (maybe), or some form of recollection or performative demonstration of wisdom. These are the comments on how to run your business, change your mind (and your brain), perform at the highest levels, and achieve some state of wellbeing amidst this all.

Whether it’s throwaway listicles or our scholars and elders providing commentary on podcasts, reels, or short videos, we see shared wisdom everywhere. Which is why I valued, and was slightly taken aback, by Margaret McMillan’s conversation with Steve Paikin. If anyone should have a hot take on the politics of the times, it’s McMillan. But she didn’t offer one. She paused, reflected, commented on the range of her knowledge and experience, and humbly proclaimed what she thought, knew, and didn’t know. She basically acknowledged that the complexity of the situations we’re finding ourselves in are exceeding her analysis.

The flood of faux wisdom from so many people is adding noise, when what’s desired are better signals. Sonja Bligneau calls these so called prophets and philosophers certainty merchants and their message of “we just had to play harder. Be better. Adapt faster” is about ignoring complexity. Bligneau, someone who’s writing I consider to reflect true wisdom, recently pointed this out and how it doesn’t fit with what we’re experiencing. Her suggestion, rooted in a career working with complexity, is to emphasize wayfinding, rather than map-making.

Living in systems, much like Anne-Wilson Schaef’sliving in process, is about experiencing the dynamism of the moment at hand rather than imposing a state upon it. States are where certainty lives. We’re not there. We’re wayfinding.

I’ve more to write, more to think about. I’m still finding my way.

Thanks for reading.

And this came across my channels today…it seems to fit, if imperfectly, and that’s probably why it’s perfect.

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” – Marie Curie

Image credits: Photos by Markus Spiske on Unsplash and Jon Tyson on Unsplash