The Dual Vigil Framework: A Systems-Medicine Axiom for Catastrophic Homeostatic Breakdown

Abstract

Abstract We formalize the Dual Vigil Principle (DVP), a cross-domain systems framework proposing that catastrophic failure in complex homeostatic systems can emerge from the simultaneous breakdown of two mechanistically distinguishable surveillance layers. Single-layer disruption may produce constrained or partially recoverable degradation, whereas joint disruption may produce a super-additive transition toward systemic instability. We define operational criteria for distinguishing surveillance layers, construct a nonlinear hazard formulation using an interaction-based survival model, and map the framework onto human genomic stability through the TP53/p21 checkpoint axis and the ATM/BRCA DNA- repair axis. We further specify a retrospective validation architecture using TCGA multi-omic datasets and explicit falsification criteria. The central claim is not merely that redundancy exists, but that catastrophic collapse may occur when distinct stabilizing functions simultaneously lose effective enforcement. The hypothesis is empirical: it is supported only if joint disruption produces reproducible interaction effects beyond the contributions of either disruption alone.