Piecewise, some of the mysteries about stacking blocks reveal themselves (or get revealed). This study looks at some of the stochastic stability of some kinds of heaping of blocks:
“Stochastic Stability of Random Stacking of Blocks,” V. Denoël, International Journal of Solids and Structures, vol. 305, 2024, article 113094. The author, at the University of Liège, Belgium, reports:
“The intricate dynamics of random stacking is a seemingly whimsical yet inherently complex problem. Since very young age, humans are naturally captivated by topping blocks on each other…. It appears that the problem of random stacking with blocks exhibiting stochastic misalignments has not been deeply investigated yet. Therefore, the problem considered in this paper consists in adding blocks (assumed perfectly rectangular), on top of each other, and on top of a flat surface, but to pile them up with a certain imperfection.”