{
  "id": "trickle-down.collective",
  "term": "trickle down",
  "sense": "collective",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 16,
  "domain": "collective outcome nobody chose",
  "style": "folk",
  "definition": "A collective outcome nobody chose, where motion through a structure is mistaken for intentional distribution, and the source is treated as a cause even though the flow would stop if the structure's maintenance ceased.",
  "folk_gloss": "When benefits from the top eventually reach the bottom.",
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "flow.movement",
      "structure.arrangement",
      "maintenance.upkeep",
      "source.origin",
      "cause.reason"
    ],
    "interaction": "none",
    "novel_properties": [
      "none"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [],
  "relations": [],
  "used_by": [],
  "forms": [
    "trickle down"
  ],
  "closed": false,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "phrases:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.7,
    "sources": [
      "folk phrase — collective outcome nobody chose"
    ]
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-trickle-down.collective"
}