Abstract We formalize the Dual Vigil Principle (DVP), a cross-domain systems frame-work proposing that catastrophic failure in complex homeostatic systems emerges from the simultaneous breakdown of two mechanistically distinct surveillance layers. Single-layer disruption produces constrained and often recoverable degradation; dual-layer collapse produces a super-additive transition toward systemic instability. We define the mathematical criteria for functional independence between surveillance layers, construct a non-linear hazard formalization using an interaction-based survival model, and map the framework onto human genomic stability through the TP53/p21 and ATM/BRCA protection axes. We further provide a retrospective validation architecture using TCGA multi-omic datasets and explicit falsification thresholds. The central claim of the framework is not that redundancy exists, but that catastrophic collapse occurs when two independent stabilizing manifolds simultaneously lose enforcement authority.
Scott et al. (Fri,) studied this question.