# boiling over (threshold)

*Ordinarily means:* When a situation gets too intense and suddenly erupts into chaos or anger.

A parameter has drifted past a wall where containment ends, and the thing continues in a new state without the previous boundary holding it, revealing that maintenance was only just holding the shape against constant pressure.

- Computed level: L19 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: emergence  ·  Arena: social_systems

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [wall](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-wall.range-end), [drift](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-drift.aimless), [maintenance](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-maintenance.upkeep), [window](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-window.range), [pressure](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-pressure.ontological)

**Through:** crossing without removal

**Novel properties:**
- emergence.novel_properties

## Examples
- In 2008, Iceland's banking system collapsed when liabilities exceeded GDP by 700%, overwhelming regulatory buffers. *(economics)*
- The Fukushima Daiichi reactors melted down after tsunami waves exceeded the seawall's design height of 5.7 meters. *(engineering)*
- During the Arab Spring, simmering dissent in Tunisia erupted after Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest. *(institutions)*

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*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-boiling-over.threshold*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-boiling-over.threshold.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*