I naturally understand why this is. We always say “more moving parts makes there more chance for failure”. But why is this? Is it just how the universe has to be due to the laws of physics?
For instance an airplane is pretty complex but the aluminum that makes up the structure of the plane rarely needs to have complete overhauls while something like the engine is constantly being serviced and kept up to standard.
What is it about spinning parts, heat, and lots of piping that make something constantly be trending towards breakdown?
In: Engineering
The more elements there are in a system, the more ways there are for that system to break down or be ordered incorrectly (thus, the more likely it is to get into a broken down or disordered state).
It’s just numbers. It applies to everything, not just physical things.
Take the sequence [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] and consider this sequence to be the “correct” and functional sequence. There is only one way for this sequence to be correct but 5! – 1 ways for this to be incorrect (or broken down).
Now make the sequence [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], same parameters. One way to be correct, 6! – 1 ways to be broken down. A huge increase in possible ways to be broken down just by adding one element. Now add thousands of elements.
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