GoKawiilClassic essay 'How Complex Systems Fail' outlines roots of catastrophic failure
The widely cited treatise by Richard Cook argues that hazardous complex systems—like healthcare, aviation, and power generation—are inherently risky and are protected by multiple layers of technical, human, and organizational defenses. Catastrophic failure rarely stems from one cause; instead it emerges when several small, often latent failures align simultaneously to overwhelm those defenses. Most failure trajectories are stopped before they cascade, largely thanks to human operators catching problems in real time.