# breaking the ice (threshold)

*Ordinarily means:* to start a conversation in a socially awkward situation

when the connection parameter between two parties, previously beyond the wall that marks the edge of their interaction window, is shifted by a minimal shared act so that both now lie within each other's interaction window, enabling maintenance of a connection

- Computed level: L17 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: bonds and their maintenance

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [coupling](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-coupling.connection), [parameter](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-parameter.condition), [window](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-window.range), [wall](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-wall.range-end), [keep](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-keep.maintenance), [interaction](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-interaction.process)

**Through:** a minimal shared act shifts the connection parameter across the wall into the interaction window

**Novel properties:**
- initial contact breach

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*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-breaking-the-ice.threshold*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-breaking-the-ice.threshold.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*