# chicken and egg (stacked)

*Ordinarily means:* a situation where it's not clear which of two things came first

Two things that each require the other to exist, making a wall that cannot be crossed by starting from either side alone.

- Computed level: L14 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: everyday-idiom

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [dependence](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-dependence.condition), [precedes](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-precedes.temporal), [wall](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-wall.range-end)

**Through:** noun-phrase

**Novel properties:**
- self-reinforcing loop
- circular requirement

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