Complex Systems Theory Explains Why Covid Crushed the World

The more complicated and efficient a system gets, the more likely it is to collapse altogether

Debora MacKenzie
OneZero
Published in
6 min readJul 22, 2020

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Image: zf L/Getty Images

Human history is a long saga of people learning to harness ever-increasing amounts of energy to maintain ever more complex, ordered systems, punctuated by periodic collapses. The Romans, the Maya — when…

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Debora MacKenzie
OneZero

Writer on infectious disease, complexity, the science of humans. Author of “Covid-19: the pandemic that never should have happened & how to stop the next one”.