I have been contemplating the idea that many systems rely on inputs within a certain band, or above/below a certain threshold in order for that system to function as intended.
My recent thread on
demographics/birth rates being an example - the world has been shaped in the industrialized era with the assumption that populations will continue to grow, yet there comes a point somewhere where replacement rates continue to fall and populations decline just because that is the pattern entrenched and each repetition makes it harder to reverse.. for populations that is probably somewhere around a 1.5-1.6 replacement rate.
Another example is, I'm sure we're all aware, a retirement pot that grows much beyond about 30x annual expenses (3.33% initial WR) - failure rates fall to just about zero on such low WRs, and instead its almost impossible to not die with far more money than you retired with. Of course this probably relies on global populations not collapsing (see above).
And there are many percieved tipping points, at least its claimed, with our planet's ecosystem, the argument being that the changes we've driven in our climate will continue and accelerate by themselves once we have breached a natural point of no return - a bit doomsdayish, but it's an argument we need to consider.
Anyway, not sure what the point of this was other than to express my thoughts on how crossing a tipping point can drive and be the catalyst for long term irreversible change.
