{
  "id": "ambiguity.state",
  "term": "ambiguity",
  "sense": "state",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 11,
  "arena": "abstract",
  "domain": "emergence",
  "style": "window",
  "definition": "a state consistent with two models whose windows both currently contain it.",
  "folk_gloss": null,
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "model.representation",
      "window.range",
      "state.condition"
    ],
    "interaction": "The components together sustain a condition that two distinct models can simultaneously encompass within their ranges, maintaining consistency through shared representation.",
    "novel_properties": [
      "dual-model consistency",
      "persistent state across models",
      "simultaneous containment"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "text": "The word 'bank' in English can refer to a financial institution or the edge of a river, depending on context.",
      "domain": "language"
    },
    {
      "text": "In quantum superposition, an electron's spin state is simultaneously up and down until measured.",
      "domain": "physics"
    },
    {
      "text": "The 2000 U.S. presidential election recount in Florida hinged on ambiguous ballot markings in multiple counties.",
      "domain": "institutions"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [],
  "used_by": [],
  "forms": [
    "ambiguity"
  ],
  "closed": false,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "retrofit:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.8,
    "sources": [
      "Sample/abstract-concepts-as-ranges.md"
    ],
    "reconciled": {
      "by": "openrouter:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
      "date": "2026-07-31",
      "changed": "components",
      "note": "Removed 'parameter.condition' (L4) and 'windows.opening' (L10) — the former is too primitive and not directly constitutive, the latter is irrelevant. Added 'state.condition' (L2) as it is essential to"
    }
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-ambiguity.state"
}