Self-organized criticality

Self-Organized Criticality (SOC) is when something becomes more organized and balanced on its own, without any outside help. Imagine a pile of sand, every time you add one more grain of sand to the pile, it can increase its stability and size. Over time, the pile can reach a point where a single grain of sand can cause a mini-avalanche. This is SOC - when the sand pile gets more and more organized until it reaches a certain point. This kind of critical point is found in many natural systems, such as earthquakes or hurricanes. In other words, even though the system is unpredictable, it is also very well balanced.