From the viewpoint of the Gods

Aeldric, an Australian contributor to The Oil Drum, has posted an article today entitled "The Failure of Networked Systems: The Repercussions of Systematic Risk" which has provoked a discussion which goes far and deep. If you're willing to take the plunge, dive in. I'd particularly recommend paying attention to posts in the discussion by Memmel who is a true genius, but severely dyslexic, so a little self-translation is in order while reading his stuff.

In a nutshell, the originating article is difficult to understand because it's highly technical, but the discussion following (which is of the highest quality) is where the true jewels lie.