And complexity in extremes is a nightmare - think of Mogadishu, Somalia, in the 1990s or the financial crisis of 2009 or Times Square during rush hour on a Friday afternoon. Coherence seeking is simply a necessary and functional process that helps us interpret and respond to our world efficiently and (hopefully) effectively. So what is the big idea? It is NOT that coherence is bad and complexity is good. Research shows that this tendency toward simplification becomes even more intensified when we are under stress, threat, time constraints, fatigue, and various other conditions all absolutely typical of conflict. When we encounter conflict, within the field of forces that constitute it, the natural human tendency is to reduce that tension by seeking coherence through simplification. Conflict is essentially a contradiction, an incompatibility, oppositely directed forces, and a difference that triggers tension. When we experience conflict, this tendency intensifies. In the middle of this complex world are we humans, who have a natural tendency to seek coherence in what we see, feel, think, and do. “It is critical to recognize that we live in an increasingly complex world - biologically, socially, politically, technologically, you name it - that holds many inherent contradictions.
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