What makes a person a complex person?

I’ve heard people get called complex for years. But I wonder what exactly does that mean. I’ve always thought that every human on this earth who is of sound mind was complex. But when I think about it, it’s not something I hear all the time when describing a person. So what makes somebody complex? Is it a larger than life personality? Is it somebody with great talents? Is it more than that?

I think the only reason people think others are complex is because the person who is thought to be complex is being that way on purpose. It’s just the persona of being complex. People pretend to be complex so others will have to figure them out. Just my opinion. :slight_smile:

It kind of gets used in slightly different ways. I think it’s perhaps the level of uncertainty or mystery of a person and the choices they make and emotions they show/ choose not to show and the (perhaps unclear at first) reasons behind them.

I kind of hear ‘complex’ sometimes being used in a way to explain why people act the way they do anyway. As in say, Person X is incredibly annoyed/anxious when certain topics are brought up in conversation- it can be complicated and based on their own past and experiences. The issue is perhaps complicated in that sense (or complex) and perhaps a cornicopia of issues, wants, fears and hates interwieving which also makes that person really them (or how the world percieves them anyway, but reality is more than just the surface).

In that sense however, everyone is at least a LITTLE complex. I mean say someone you don’t know is angry and only seeing that brief moment of time isn’t enough to know what the actual stranger is like. They could be perhaps just mean or easily angered in general… or just having a really horrible time when you come across them. (And heck even in the former, totally possible they’re having a horrible life if they’re often angry!) Or even a combination of this in of itself.

It can mean someone who is simply interesting sometimes from what I’ve heard (but ‘interesting’ it of itself can differ from person to person).

Or even mean someone you’re just generally unsure of too. Sometimes just someone confusing, or someone whose motivations you can’t really discern. Sometimes after all people can fake emotions- fake happiness for instance because of many issues, not just one.

A complex issue is a complicated one, as is a person I suppose, but (most) people are at least a little bit one they reach a certain age- psychology isn’t a hard science after all like physics.

It’s more or less someone perhaps where there is much more than there is on the surface.

If someone uses it to describe themselves it’s kind of an eye-roller. Everyone is complex in some way especially as they get older- some perhaps simply more complex than others.

After all it’s almost impossible to know every last detail of a persons life, even if you’ve known them all their lives.

What is ‘interesting’ to a person might differ to another though. I guess someone thought to be ‘complex’ by one person can be not all that complex to say a third party and will depend upon their OWN thoughts on what is actually interesting or complicated… which in of itself can have other complicated and interwieving issues attached to it itself.

Opinions differ and all that. But generally a synonym for complex is ‘complicated’.

And what are humans and society if not at least a little complicated?

I think complex is a very interesting word to describe someone. I think any person can be complex in ways they think, dress, their personality, and a whole lot more. I think if someone is hard to figure out but they have a distictive identity, they are a complex person.

Everyone lives a different life. Some live with two parents, some people’s parents are divorced, some have parents of the same sex. Some graduate from high school, some drop out and get their ged. Some just drop out and work. Some are depressed, some are happy. Some are neutral. Some people have trust issues because of experiences they past through. So people got bullied when they were kids and that affects you.

Me I think I am clinically depressed for the most part. Takes alot of me to getnup and be excited for the day.

But people are complex because we all come from different walks of life and different experiences.

I could best describe a complex person with my novel protagonist, Raamsu Togetsu. I think complex all in all would mean someone who isn’t keen on sharing their past yet they make a big entrance for someone to get in on their past misfortunes, AKA, Raamsu’s troubled childhood. Since I find that Raamsu is like a altar ego of myself, I also find myself complex because i am also not so keen on sharing my emotions or what was the past. Mysterious is also another way to note someone as complex, and someone who is tough on the outside but too soft on the inside.

Looking at the post in this thread, and thinking about the person I was thinking about when I created in, could another way to descibe a complex person who is complex is a person who shows a lot of contradictions about themselves?

yeah, that would work too.