Complex Systems

The coffeemaker or entertainment system of a commercial aircraft is not supposed to bring down the plane, but both have done so in the past, and it is within the realm of possibility that it could occur again in the future. An airliner is a perfect example of a complex system: a large mass containing explosive fuel, flying at high speeds, and operating along a fine boundary between stability and instability. As chaos theory suggests, small forces can upset the system, causing a chain of events that results in the destructive release of the large amount of energy stored in the system. Interestingly, sometimes efforts to make those systems safer, especially by technological means, can make the systems more complex and therefore more prone to accidents.1things bigger, more complex and more violent.