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My pass had disappeared. Not that I believed for a moment that this was an accident; in fact, I had suspected for some time now that the Cosmic Command, obviously no longer able to supervise every assignment on an individual basis when there were literally trillions of matters in its charge, had switched over to a random system. The assumption would be that every document, circulating endlessly from desk to desk, must eventually hit upon the right one. A time-consuming procedure, perhaps, but one that would never fail. The Universe itself operated on the same principle. And for an institution as everlasting as the Universe - certainly our Building was such an institution - the speed at which these meanderings and perturbations took place was of no consequence.

Stanislaw Lem#2

BureaucracyChaosCosmosSystemsTime

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About this quote

What does it mean?
The author suggests that vast systems, whether bureaucratic or cosmic, rely on random chance rather than individual supervision to achieve order over time.
In plain terms
Big organizations often let things happen by chance because they can't control everything directly.
What can you take from it?
Randomness can be a reliable method for long-term systems.

Where it applies

  • bureaucratic workflows
  • cosmic phenomena
  • organizational management

Putting it to work

  • designing scalable systems
  • understanding bureaucratic delays

Questions to consider

  • How much inefficiency is acceptable in large systems?
  • Does randomness eventually lead to order?

Another view

Random systems can be inefficient for urgent matters.

More from Stanislaw Lem

  1. In an extreme instance, in which there is a Propervirt of less than 0.9%, the TEXT OF THE PRESENT PROSPECTUS may likewise undergo an ABRUPT change. If, while y…

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  2. Faith is, at one and the same time, absolutely necessary and altogether impossible.

    Permalink to quote #3

  3. The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes

    Permalink to quote #4

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