{
  "id": "identity-crisis.anchor",
  "term": "identity crisis",
  "sense": "anchor",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 15,
  "domain": "self-model drift",
  "style": "folk",
  "definition": "a self-model whose parameter drifts while the model and the thing it models are similar, so no separate boundary can act as a wall to show when the model leaves its window",
  "folk_gloss": "when someone feels unsure about who they are",
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "self-model.reflexive",
      "parameter.condition",
      "drift.aimless",
      "wall.range-end",
      "window.range",
      "boundary.limit"
    ],
    "interaction": "the parameter drifts without a separate boundary, so there is no wall to mark the limit of the model's window",
    "novel_properties": [
      "lack of external anchor"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [],
  "relations": [],
  "used_by": [],
  "forms": [
    "identity crisis"
  ],
  "closed": false,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "phrases:openai/gpt-oss-120b",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.7,
    "sources": [
      "folk phrase — the self-model drifting"
    ]
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-identity-crisis.anchor"
}