Everything that grows, stabilizes, or spirals out of control does so because of one thing: the sign of its feedback loop. One character determines whether a system explodes or balances.
Watch what happens when the feedback sign changes
Rare but powerful. Used when the body needs to commit fully to a process.
The body's default mode. Keeps everything in the narrow range where life is possible.
Creates both fortunes and catastrophes. The same mechanism, different contexts.
What markets and regulators try to achieve. Stability through correction.
The most dangerous thing about positive feedback is the tipping point— the moment when negative feedback fails and positive feedback takes over.
Systems can absorb disturbances for a long time... until they can't. Then everything changes very fast.
Every system you interact with—your body, your relationships, your finances, your climate— is governed by feedback loops. Positive feedback creates change. Negative feedback creates stability.
Understanding this lets you see why things grow exponentially (until they crash), why homeostasis is precious, and why small interventions at the right point can flip entire systems.
This is systems thinking. This is how reality works.
Social Systems
+ Positive Feedback
How things go viral—for better or worse.
− Negative Feedback
Social norms and moderation. What keeps societies from flying apart.