Accelerated technical systems carry structurally incalculable breakdown risks

Evidence

Beyond this, the technologically accelerated mastery and processing of nature is accompanied by a growing risk of systematically incalculable breakdowns and accidents, as Charles Perrow showed in a much discussed study. These suddenly and unexpectedly bring the rapid processing of nature enabled by modern industrial technology to a standstill. So here again accelerated movement flips over into paralyzed inertia: a server crash in a computer network can illustrate this just as well as a necessary shutdown of a nuclear reactor. — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 759

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Unpredictable shocks harm more than predictable stronger ones — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 522; Exponential change-time distributions prevent timing strategies because hazard rate is constant — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3285; A system of interdependent networks is significantly more vulnerable to shocks and damages, leading to cascading failures across networks. — Cascading Failures in Interdependent Economic Networks

Broader Connections

• Unpredictable shocks harm more than predictable stronger ones #expands (0.75) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 522
• Exponential change-time distributions prevent timing strategies because hazard rate is constant #exemplifies (0.75) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3285