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Radical Redundancy

/ˈræd.ɪ.kəl rɪˈdʌn.dən.si/ Architectural Principle: Antifragility
Definition An architectural principle where redundancy is not a passive backup but an active, simultaneous state of the network. Unlike "failover" systems that wait for a crash to switch to a backup, Radical Redundancy ensures that multiple valid pathways exist at all times, allowing the system to treat failure as a routine, non-disruptive event.

Active vs. Passive Resilience

In traditional engineering, we build bridges. If the bridge collapses, we might have a ferry service as a backup. This is Passive Redundancy (Failover). It implies a moment of crisis and a switchover cost.

In mycelial networks, there is no "main" pathway. Nutrients flow through hundreds of simultaneous hyphal threads. If one is severed by a boot heel or a beetle, the flow instantaneously redistributes to the others. The system doesn't "recover"; it simply continues. This is Radical Redundancy.

Antifragility

Nassim Taleb coined the term Antifragile for things that gain from disorder. Radical Redundancy is the mechanism of antifragility in the Myceloom. When weak paths fail, they are pruned, and resources are diverted to stronger paths. The network learns from the failure, becoming topologically optimized *because* of the stress, not in spite of it.

Self-Stabilization

This principle allows for Self-Stabilization (Dijkstra). The system is guaranteed to converge to a correct state regardless of initial errors or transient faults, because the logic of recovery is baked into the normal operation of the network.