Complexity as a Linguistic Variable

One of the problematic aspects of “complexity” is still its definition. We encounter many definitions and criteria for a system being complex from different points of view, some of which give rise to contradictory results: for a given system some definitions deduce that the system is complex, but others lead to the opposite result. An attempt is made to deal with the concept of complexity from a new viewpoint. A look at the fuzzy logic approach is suggested as an appropriate way to better understand what complexity is. The new idea is to find a definition of complexity based on linguistic variables (one of the foundations of fuzzy logic). To do this, we distinguish “system” from the corresponding “model” as a specific interpretation of the “system”. We conclude that “complex” is a most appropriate adjective for “models” but not for “systems”. Far from claiming to have come closer to the ultimate definition of complexity, hereby only a window is opened to see complex models in a new way.