The Emergence Machine

house of cards · stacked

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L15 review noun folk phrase open compare →

A structure whose parts depend on one another in sequence, where the failure of any one part causes the whole to fall because no part is held up except by the next.

House of cards (noun) means: A structure whose parts depend on one another in sequence, where the failure of any one part causes the whole to fall because no part is held up except by the next. It emerges from wall, parameter, maintenance, dependence: stacked dependency. In the EmergenceLexicon it sits at computed level 15, chaining down to the four foundations (space, time, energy, pattern).

house-of-cards.stacked · forms: house of cards

ordinarily means: something that seems stable but can collapse easily

Examples

Emergence

from: wall parameter maintenance dependence collapse
through: stacked dependency

Chain to foundations

knowledgeL7 knowledge.cognitive: information that people have about somethingvalueL7 value.magnitude: The number a parameter has at a time.nothingL10 nothing.absence: not a thingothersL2 others.distinct-entities: Things that are in space and time but not the same thing as one, or not the same pattern as one.structureL2 structure.arrangement: The pattern of how the parts of a thing are placed in space.arrangementL3 arrangement.spatial: a structure of parts in space.setL9 set.fix: To make a wall or the value of a parameter stay in one place.changeL1 change.process: When a thing is not the same after as it was before.connectsL7 connects.verb: When two things are brought together so that a flow between them can happen and persist.collapseL13 collapse.failure: A wall crossing where the parameter drifts outside the window and nothing on the far side inherits the function of the thing.outsideL6 outside.spatial: the space that is not inside a thing's boundaryforceL12 force.push: a press of matter that results in a change in motionneedL5 need.psychological: a state that diverges from a persistent condition of an objectpurposeL9 purpose.goal: a goal that is about why a thing is doneflowL3 flow.movement: Motion of many parts of matter together through one place.sideL3 side.surface: A part of the boundary of a thing.spaceL0 space.extent: Where things can be: that in which one thing is here and another is there, apart.broughtL6 brought.past-tense: To come to a place carrying a thing that was not there before.motionL2 motion.movement: Change of place: a thing is here, and after, it is there.holdL13 hold.physical: keep thing with touch and force so it does not movecontactL4 contact.physical: When two things are at the same place in space during time and their boundaries touch.noneL9 none.quantity: no amount of a thinghouse of cardsL15 house-of-cards.stacked: A structure whose parts depend on one another in sequence, where the failure of any one part causes the whole to fall because no part is held up except by the next.matterL1 matter.substance: A pattern of energy that is in one place in space through time.peopleL6 people.social: a group of distinct entities that persist over time and interact through mutual touchhappenL2 happen.event-occurrence: A change that is at some place during time.rangeL3 range.spatial: the space between two boundariespartL1 part.relation: Something that is in a thing but is not all of that thing.linksL8 links.connection: a thing that connects two thingsmakeL4 make.verb: Parts come together through interaction into a structure and persist in that pattern.goL3 go.movement: to move one from a place to another placemeaningL8 meaning.significance: a pattern of knowledge that differs from a stategoalL6 goal.purpose: a needed state that differs from a statecomeL3 come.arrive: To move through space until being at some place.surfaceL4 surface.exterior: A part of a boundary that touches a thing and is where the thing is not the thing.marksL5 marks.visual: A difference that is a pattern on a surface when a part changes that surface.wallL8 wall.range-end: The value of a parameter at which a window ends.dependenceL10 dependence.condition: one window's walls set by another's parameters.entitiesL4 entities.object: things that are each distinct from other thingsgroupsL5 groups.collection: a set of entity that are together because each entity has patternrelevanceL12 relevance.core: a parameter whose drift moves a wallstateL2 state.condition: a pattern of a thing that persists through time in a placequantityL7 quantity.numerical: the size of how many things are in a spacekeepL5 keep.maintenance: to make something persist in a place or statenumberL6 number.quantity: a mark of many distinct others together in a placeboundaryL2 boundary.limit: The place where a thing ends and what is not the thing begins.energyL0 energy.capacity: That by which things can be not as they were.distinctL3 distinct.attribute: a thing is not the same as another thinginsideL5 inside.spatial: in the space that is within an object's boundarytimeL0 time.dimension: The before and after of things: that in which a thing can be, and then not be the same.propertyL3 property.attribute: a state that a thing hasworkL3 work.effort: a change that happens when energy moves something through spacecarryingL5 carrying.transporting: To move with a thing that is in one place and then is in another, where the thing remains in contact.pressL5 press.force: to move an object until it is in contact with a surfacepersistL1 persist.continue: To be the same through time.wayL9 way.method: a link of one place to another through spaceinteractingL4 interacting.social: when two things change each other while touchingoffL2 off.state: when a thing is not here, it is theresetsL3 sets.grouped: A pattern of many things that are each different from the others but are bounded together by what is the same about them.crossL4 cross.pass: To go through a boundary from one place to another.functionL10 function.purpose: the purpose a thing is forparameterL4 parameter.condition: A condition of a thing that can change while the thing persists.windowL7 window.range: The range of a parameter within which a thing can be; outside it the thing ends though its parts persist.driftL11 drift.aimless: Change of a parameter with nothing that makes it go one way.differenceL1 difference.relation: When one thing is not the same as another; the pattern of one is not the pattern of the other.maintenanceL14 maintenance.upkeep: Work that holds the parameters of a thing inside its window.sizeL2 size.measurement: the space that a thing's matter is ininteractionL2 interaction.process: When two things change each other.informationL6 information.knowledge: a pattern of marks that are differencesconditionL3 condition.state: a state of a thing that persists through time in a placeobjectL4 object.entity: A thing that has a boundary and an arrangement of parts that persists through time in a place.touchL3 touch.together: When there is no space between the boundaries of two things, and each can change the other.amountL8 amount.quantity: the quantity of a thing is a size or a numberpatternL0 pattern.regularity: That which is the same again: what is here is also there, or what is now was also before.farL2 far.distance: more space than before
full chain as text (272 steps)

Neighborhood

Concepts that depend on this one above; what it is built from below.

built fromhouse of cardsL15house-of-cards.stacked — A structure whose parts depend on one another in sequence, where the failure of any one part causes the whole to fall bewallL8wall.range-end — The value of a parameter at which a window ends.parameterL4parameter.condition — A condition of a thing that can change while the thing persists.maintenanceL14maintenance.upkeep — Work that holds the parameters of a thing inside its window.dependenceL10dependence.condition — one window's walls set by another's parameters.collapseL13collapse.failure — A wall crossing where the parameter drifts outside the window and nothing on the far side inherits the function of the t

Provenance

author: phrases:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507 · date: 2026-07-29 · confidence: 0.7 · source: folk phrase — stacked dependency