check out the "sandpile model", which was very influential in the study of critical phenomena in physics. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-sandpile-model

check out the "sandpile model", which was very influential in the study of critical phenomena in physics. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-sandpile-model-The-classical-thought-experiment-motivating-self-organized_fig2_266626997 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-sandpile-model-The-c...