Complexity of Educational Control in the United StatesOften we hear the words complex and complicated used interchangeably. In fact, out of curiosity, I highlighted both words in Microsoft Word after typing them in the previous sentence and looked at the suggested synonyms. Oddly enough, complex is synonymous with words such as multifaceted and complex. Yet when I found the synonyms for complicated, complex was the first word listed. What is complexity? How is this different from complicated problems? Complicated systems are exactly what Microsoft Word says. They are multiple and complex. They have many parts, but there is only one specific way these systems work. This means that a change in one area will always create a change in another area, because the pieces are connected in predictable ways. For example, think of a watch. For someone like me, opening the back of a pocket watch is slightly intimidating because it is made up of many gears and parts. However, with a little research, you will find that watches are not complex systems. Mechanical clocks tell time using gears. They have two important parts: a mainspring and a pendulum. Mechanical clocks are wound with a key, which tightens the mainspring. As the mainspring unwinds, its energy turns the gears that move the hands. The pendulum keeps time and ensures that the gears move at the correct rate: second by second (http://www.nawcc.org/index.php/just-for-kids/about-time/how-does-it -work).Complex systems are not as predictable. Just like complicated systems, complex systems contain multiple parts. The difference is that most parts change often and are also interconnected in complex systems. Thus, rather than a single predictable change, there are often several... middle of paper... forms of paralysis” (Costa, p. 10). We leave our children unprepared and paralyzed, with no real knowledge other than how to pass a test and keep quiet. Our future is dark. Technology continues to advance, replacing people with computers. When will we wake up? The time has come. Works Cited Costa, Rebecca. (2010). A model of complexity and collapse: why the spiral of civilizations. The Guardian's Rattle: A Radical New Theory of Collapse. New York: Vanguard Press. How it works. (2013). National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors. Retrieved April 7, 2014 from http://www.nawcc.org/index.php/just-for-kids/about-time/how-does-it-workSpring, Joel. (2014). Chapter 8: Local control, choice, charter schools, and homeschooling. American education. (Sixteenth edition). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Quinn, D. (1997). School dizziness. My Ishmael. New York: Bantam Books.