{
  "id": "point-of-no-return.threshold",
  "term": "point of no return",
  "sense": "threshold",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 15,
  "domain": "EmergenceLexicon",
  "style": "folk",
  "definition": "A parameter has crossed a wall where the window for reversal ends, and the self-model of the thing no longer includes the state it was in.",
  "folk_gloss": "a moment after which things cannot go back to how they were before.",
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "parameter.condition",
      "wall.range-end",
      "window.range",
      "self-model.reflexive",
      "state.condition"
    ],
    "interaction": "A parameter has crossed a wall where the window for reversal ends, and the self-model of the thing no longer includes the state it was in.",
    "novel_properties": [
      "The thing's self-model no longer includes its previous state.",
      "The parameter has moved beyond a point where reversal is possible within the existing window."
    ]
  },
  "examples": [],
  "relations": [],
  "used_by": [],
  "forms": [
    "point of no return"
  ],
  "closed": false,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "phrases:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.7,
    "sources": [
      "folk phrase — small cause, large effect"
    ]
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-point-of-no-return.threshold"
}