Crayola Colors: Sign of Complexity?

Posted January 27th, 2010

One of my Facebook friends posted a picture illustrating the evolution of Crayola crayons, from eight colors in 1903 to 120 colors now. I started thinking this is an excellent representation of today’s complexity. Life was simpler when I was a child 50 years ago. I remember when Crayola introduced 64 colors. Now there are 120 colors. There are more shades of meaning that can be expressed with additional colors.

Would any of us want to live as people did in 1903? I applaud and celebrate progress. What I want to remember is that life is more complex, which requires more attention to planning and risk analysis.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 at 10:46 pm and is filed under Observations.