Synchronous failure

Synchronous failure is a symptom of an overly complex and interconnected global society and economy. Small groups of people also have the power to kill large numbers of people and sabotage systems they depend on, thanks to the leverage offered by technology, and its inherent fragility:
Increasing connectivity and a structure of networks full of hubs, non-redundant centres for information, energy and material flow, are empowering saboteurs and terrorists more (on a marginal basis) than others. Food supply, water supply, energy and other critical infrastructure is thus the weak point on which the society is based.
With redundant communications capacity, backups, and disaster recovery mechanisms in place, total collapse can be averted but the psychological impact of these attacks can themselves cause some synchronous failures of the institutions due simply to panic, or reactions that make it worse. See September 11, 2001 attacks
The choices between certain kinds of technologies and the incentives to develop and deploy them are emphasized as a way to avoid such failures. The attitude that "the more connectivity the better" is seen as the disastrous precursor of synchronous failure.
Decentralization as an active value has been promoted in some political movements, notably among North American Greens, who list it as one of their Ten Key Values. Others in the anti-globalization movement seek it as their primary goal.

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