"A chain is only as strong as its weakest link" And if you model a rope or fiber as multiple chains side-by-side (and on a molecular level they kinda-sorta are

"A chain is only as strong as its weakest link" And if you model a rope or fiber as multiple chains side-by-side (and on a molecular level they kinda-sorta are) then the longer the chain the more likely you end up with multiple parallel/concurrent defects. It's an interesting finding in that few would ever intuit it but once told about it they'll say it's "obvious". At least that's what I thought!