I have quoted a piece of doggerel at the beginning of this piece to remind us that the problem we currently face is not new. Systems have always been dependent on their weakest link. Small failures at one point in a system inevitably have the possibility of cascading so that they cause catastrophes. The underlying reality is not new. The dangers of our time in history are however radically enhanced by the approaches we have chosen to develop in the last century.
Computer technology is everywhere.
We now have mechanical and social systems that depend on the correct functioning of computers and computer chips. Probably the best known example is the automobile. Not so many years ago, it was possible to mend one's own car and, if necessary, to make imaginative adaptations. The capacity to keep cars running in Cuba, despite the American embargo, is a clear example of the resilience of earlier generations of automobiles. Today, however, it is all too often impossible to mend cars without the complex diagnostic machinery of the modern garage.