I spent the past two weekends at tango workshops.
Some orchestras play with your expectations.
You hear a steady rhythm…
your brain locks onto it…
and suddenly the beat disappears.
Or comes back differently.
At first, I tried to predict it.
Build a model. Anticipate the next step.
It works — until it doesn’t.
Because the moment the music becomes unpredictable, the predictor breaks.
So I switched strategy.
Instead of predicting, I listen — and react with a slight delay.
Maybe 100–150 ms.
Almost invisible, but enough to stay connected to reality instead of my expectations.
That creates a stable feedback loop.
And it works with any music.
Clear signal > clever prediction.
Same thing happens in engineering.
Most systems are designed as if the environment is stable.
It rarely is.
Prediction works — until reality shifts.
Then the system doesn’t degrade.
It snaps.
Designing for feedback beats designing for prediction.
