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>>bookof+(OP)
Quoting from the article "But here’s a question about Papua New Guinea: how many people live there? The answer should be pretty simple."

That sounds a very strange expectation. Most of my life post university I realized most of questions have complex answers, it is never as simple as you expect.

If the author would check how things biology and medicine work currently, I think he will have even more surprises than the fact that counting populations is an approximate endeavor.

>>vladms+Xc
> Most of my life post university I realized most of questions have complex answers, it is never as simple as you expect.

I find the complication comes from poor definitions, poor understanding of those definitions, and pedantic arguments. Less about the facts of reality being complicated and more about our ability to communicate it to each other.

>>jkling+kh
I’ve noticed the inverse as in the more I understand something, the less “simple” it looks.

Apparent simplicity usually comes from weak definitions and overconfident summaries, not from the underlying system being easy.

Complexity is often there from the start, we just don’t see it yet.

>>apercu+wj
I think it's more of a curve from my point of view.

Beginner: I know nothing and this topic seems impossible to grasp.

Advanced beginner: I get it now. It's pretty simple.

Intermedite: Hmm, this thing is actually very complicated.

Expert: It's not that complicated. I can explain a simple core covering 80% of it. The other 20% is an ocean of complexity.