Chain-reactions, cascading disasters

[clyde]

I've gotten the impression that The Idle Thumbs crew has an affinity for systems-based gameplay that involves unforeseen causality that affects the narrative. The grenade rolling down a hill, FTL compromises, Spelunky's tendency to bring cascading disaster from a simple mistake, and the system that created the environment for Ragnar's story in Crusader Kings II all demonstrate this love of the chain-reaction.

I was reading an interview of JP LeBreton in which he fantasized about the type of potential system-based chain-disasters that is a guiding principle for Spacebase DF-9

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/10/15/revealed-double-fines-sci-fi-dwarf-fortress-spacebase-df-9/

and soon afterward read this article about the illusion of nuclear security:

http://www.thenation.com/article/176631/eric-schlosser-and-illusion-nuclear-weapons-safety?utm_campaign=rand_socialflow_facebook&utm_source=rand_socialflow_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow#

Here's a relevant excerpt:

"As Schlosser shows, the basic problem is that these weapons systems are not only complicated but complex—their parts, including the humans who manage them, interact in ways that are hard to understand and control, especially in unusual circumstances. The weapons look sturdy, but in fact they degrade and require frequent maintenance. It was just such normal housekeeping that set off the Damascus accident. The lug in a technician’s wrench slipped out during a routine task, ricocheted off several pieces of equipment and the silo wall, and in an unpredictable carom shock, knocked a hole in the fuel tank. This had never happened before, and there were no plans for how it could be managed. Very intelligent and well-trained personnel made well-meaning decisions, but many of them were probably misguided. Even if they had made other choices, the missile might have been doomed. The Air Force had mandated the use of a different kind of wrench, but it was not immediately available and the team was running behind schedule. This pattern should not surprise us: a normal response to cumbersome regulations is to develop work-arounds and shortcuts. It is hard to imagine any organization without them, and so it would be foolish to say that we can solve these problems by making sure that everyone works by the book."

I figured it could make for an interesting thread.

[elmuerte]

I think you figured correctly

[Justin Leego]

I think that SecretAsianMan's wrench hand just tightened reflexively.

[SecretAsianMan]

I think that SecretAsianMan's wrench hand just tightened reflexively.

 

My spidey sense is tingling.

 

Also I work in a nuclear power plant, not a nuclear weapons plant.  I'm kind of surprised someone remembers that, but now that I think about it, I do mention it a lot.  I should probably stop that.

 

As for the topic, all I can say is   and  , plus   except when  unless of course you  .  I think that should about cover it.

[Gormongous]

As for the topic, all I can say is   and  , plus   except when  unless of course you  .  I think that should about cover it.

 

 

Why can't we post time-skipped Youtube vids, again? Start watching from twenty-five seconds in.

[SecretAsianMan]

 

Why can't we post time-skipped Youtube vids, again? Start watching from twenty-five seconds in.

 

Exactly.

[Justin Leego]

a nuclear power plant, not a nuclear weapons plant

 

Well, we all know that the first is just a slipped lug away from becoming the second!