A thermostat helps regulate the temperature of your environment. When it gets too hot, it will turn on the air conditioning and start the cooling process. If it gets too cold, it will start the heater. It senses the environment and reacts by switching devices on or off to keep the temperature at the “just right” level.
Many things require regulation to maintain equilibrium. An amplifying feedback loop can easily spiral exponentially out of control if nothing is there to balance it.
One example of a natural amplifying loop is soil erosion. Soil begins to erode when there are no plants and roots to keep it in place. As the soil is washed away, ruts and channels form that make it easier for water flow, the more soil is washed away, the easier and faster water flows. When a feedback loop like this gains momentum, it can be harder and harder to stop.
In the German fairy tale “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” (Played by Mickey Mouse in Fantasia), a wizard’s apprentice, tired of fetching water with a pail, enchants a broom to do the work for him. The floor soon floods with water, but the apprentice doesn’t know how to stop the enchanted brooms because he doesn’t know the spell. He tries chopping the broom into pieces with an axe, but each piece becomes a broom and they only move faster. He has created an out-of-control amplifying loop.
Balancing loops help keep amplifying feedback in check. For example, activities like planting vegetation, creating terraces or dams can create balancing loops for erosion. The wizard’s return ended the apprentice’s problem, and he learned a valuable lesson about magic.
Even good things can rapidly spin out of control. For example, a product or service that goes viral can quickly outstrip your ability to deliver, resulting in unhappy customers and negative reviews. In such cases you might introduce a balancing loop like a first-come, first-serve waiting list, or by raising prices until demand slows to a level you can reliably meet.
Does your situation feel scary and out of control? Is the problem getting worse? Are things growing so fast that you can’t keep up? Can you create a balancing loop to bring things back to equilibrium?
See also: Infinite loop, Pendulum, Flywheel, Causal loops, Doom loop, Virtuous cycle, Cycles, Escape velocity.
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