# buffer (region)

a parameter whose window is between the performance wall and the existence wall; the range within which drift can occur without causing the thing to end

- Computed level: L13 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: window-ontology  ·  Arena: emergence

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [parameter](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-parameter.condition), [window](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-window.range), [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), [change](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-change.process), [existence](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-existence.state), [cause](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-cause.reason), [occurs](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-occurs.event), [performance](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-performance.quality)

**Through:** the components establish a span within which a condition may vary aimlessly while the thing continues to exist

**Novel properties:**
- buffered variation
- tolerated drift
- performance-bound existence

## Examples
- The International Space Station maintains attitude control within 15 degrees of nominal, avoiding tumbling that would cut power and end operations. [engineering] *(engineering)*
- The Aral Sea shrank by 90% between 1960 and 2010, crossing a hydrological threshold beyond which its ecosystem could not persist. [environment] *(environment)*
- The Federal Reserve held interest rates near zero from 2008 to 2015, delaying recovery or collapse in the U.S. housing market. [economics] *(economics)*

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