---
title: "Discussion on \"The bathroom scale and the myth of scalability: Why most systems fail at rush hour—not at rest\" | Hashnode"
description: "Discussion on \"The bathroom scale and the myth of scalability: Why most systems fail at rush hour—not at rest\". Most systems don’t break because of a missing feature. They break because they weren’t designed to survive growth, chaos, or time—mainly chaos.\nThat’s the first thing Designing Data-Intensive Applicat"
url: "https://hashnode.com/posts/the-bathroom-scale-and-the-myth-of-scalability-why-most-systems-fail-at-rush-hournot-at-rest/6893c6133239b73e69516d50"
---

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# [The bathroom scale and the myth of scalability: Why most systems fail at rush hour—not at rest](https://averageprogrammer.com/blog/the-bathroom-scale-and-the-myth-of-scalability-why-most-systems-fail-at-rush-hournot-at-rest?utm_source=hashnode&utm_medium=feed)

Most systems don’t break because of a missing feature. They break because they weren’t designed to survive growth, chaos, or time—mainly chaos. That’s the first thing Designing Data-Intensive Applicat

Aug 6, 2025 · 4 min read · averageprogrammer.com  
Updated May 3  
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[Carl Eubanks](https://hashnode.com/@averageprogrammer)

@averageprogrammer

  
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