01
5-minute explainers per system
Diagram + 500-word explanation + 'where it can break'.
civlab·how-the-world-works.psyverse.fun·database
◐ How The World Works
Browseable diagrams of the systems that actually run the planet — power grids, container shipping, semiconductor fabs, central banks.
Most people have no working model of how electricity actually reaches a wall socket, how a single shipping container moves from a Vietnamese factory to a Brooklyn doorstep, or how the U.S. dollar is created. The world runs on hidden infrastructure. How The World Works is a visual encyclopedia of that infrastructure: each entry is a single system, presented as a diagram, with a 5-minute explanation, the chokepoints that matter, and the specific people / institutions that operate it.
Not a textbook. A field guide for adults who notice they don't actually know how their world works.
Interactive demo
Use it — don't read about it.
12 results
Features
What this platform promises.
02
Chokepoint browser
Filter the world's systems by which single point can break them.
03
'Where does my X come from?' lookup
Pick a daily object; trace its supply chain back to raw materials.
Modules
Modules that compose this platform.
01 · atlas
Systems atlas
100+ diagrammed systems, each on its own card.
02 · chokepoints
Chokepoint registry
TSMC fabs, Strait of Hormuz, Suez Canal, ICBC, ASML, etc.
03 · operators
Operator directory
Specific companies and individuals who actually run each system.
04 · incidents
Incident library
What happens when a chokepoint fails — Suez 2021, Texas freeze, ASML embargo.
05 · search
Plain-English search
'How does my electricity get here?' returns the local generation→transmission→distribution chain.
Data model
System
field
type
note
id
uuid
System id
domain
enum
{energy, logistics, finance, comms, ...}
diagram
svg
Inline SVG diagram
chokepoints
Chokepoint[]
Failure-mode list
operators
Operator[]
Who actually runs it