How Many Dominoes Must Topple Before One Falls On Us?

May 18, 2023

by Charles Hugh Smith Of Two Minds

Everything’s abstract until it happens to us.

Dominoes falling are abstractions until one falls on you. Lines of dominoes toppling are an apt analogy to highly centralized systems that are tightly bound, that is, all the transactions that flow through the centralized hubs are interconnected, so when one domino falls, it topples chains of dominoes that then topple other chains.

Two concepts help illuminate this systemic vulnerability to cascading disruptions: dependency chains and path dependency. Dependency chains are set up when each critical component is dependent on a long line of other components working perfectly. One example is our dependence on our vehicle. If one component in our vehicle fails and it breaks down, our life loses functionality: we can’t get to work, drop the kids off, pick up meds at the pharmacy, etc.