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by nafey 2234 days ago
One implication of Tesler's law appears to be that it is impossible to increase the total complexity of a system. But this feels intuitively wrong to me after looking at the source code of any ERP project.

Maybe it only comes into play if you try to decrease over all complexity of a system. After a certain point complexity can't be reduced but can only be redistributed.
2 comments
xyzzyz 2234 days ago
The Tesler conservation law is like first law of thermodynamics: you cannot destroy complexity, only change its form. Your observation is more like second law of thermodynamics: the complexity of a closed system always grows with time.
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mdonahoe 2234 days ago
Reminds me of a mathematical equation. You can added unnecessary complexity by adding terms to both sides, but simplification can only go so far.

Once simplified, you still have the option to move the essential operations to one side of the equation or the other.

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