Talking about the culture of complexity, I'd like to repost Jonathan Edward's https://alarmingdevelopment.org/?p=1173. There is definitely a cultural issue, not just a technical one.

I don't think This isn't unique to software, I think it's more common in the software industry to think the complexity sprawling nature of reality is somehow controllable. You can't address improvement as a whole, you have to focus on the small piece in front of you, in your own way, with your own goals.