Systems rarely fail when coherence disappears. They fail when deferred-cost reservoirs finally deplete. Until then, instability can be absorbed through debt, externalization, inertia, symbolic performance, or simple lack of alternatives. That’s why many institutions don’t collapse cleanly; they enter prolonged linear decline: rising friction, decaying trust, widening gaps between representation and reality, yet enough residual functionality remains to keep the structure alive. Modern systems often survive far beyond their natural coherence horizon.

deferred-cost reservoirs prolong unstable topology beyond its natural coherence horizon.