# 20231223

I am not a burn-the-whole-system-down-and-start-over person.

I am an [evenly-survey-the-available-tools-and-build-a-new-space-within-the-system](/ideas/always-leave-a-door-open/recursively-open-doors.md), something-that-can-grow-into-a-rich-environment-of-its-own person.

(Note: The percentages below are incredibly figurative. Also none of this is correct. [It might be useful, though.](/ideas/viable-is-more-useful-than-correct.md))

1. At the time they're built, systems serve 90% of their population well. [10% are not met well.](/ideas/10-revolt.md) A "complete" system can be configured -- with extra effort -- to serve the remaining 10%. It won't be awesome, but it'll be enough. That's a complete system. Incomplete systems tend to not get off the ground.
2. The composition of that poorly-served 10% will shift and bubble over time, with a varying set of sub-populations. Over time, [one of those groups will catch momentum](/2013/tremble.md), and it'll start to push its way beyond that 10% line.
3. That it's-not-great-but-it-mostly-works population will eventually hit some critical threshold. The larger it gets (as a percentage of the whole), the more heat it'll generate as the system becomes less and less suited to the population. (Remember, it was built to serve the *original* 90% of the population well.) This is the time to start building something new, *rooted in the original system*, composed of its pieces, but using a composition that serves the new majority.
4. In time, the original system is left to history. The new one becomes [self-hosting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-hosting_\(compilers\)) -- as in, an understanding of the original system is no longer required to operate in the new one. The new system can be defined and understood in its own terms. Goto 1.

It's a really good idea to design any system with this cycle in mind. It's not planned obsolescence; it's basically composting. Create systems that will degrade into useful substrate for what comes next. (Or: [Always leave a door open](/ideas/always-leave-a-door-open.md). See also [Kuhn Cycle](/ideas/kuhn-cycle.md).)


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