{
  "id": "catch-twenty-two.dependency",
  "term": "catch twenty two",
  "sense": "dependency",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 12,
  "arena": "institutional-design",
  "domain": "social-systems",
  "style": "folk",
  "definition": "Two conditions that each require the other to be met before either can happen, so no path exists to enter the window where both are true.",
  "folk_gloss": "A situation where you need to do one thing to qualify for another, but you can't do the first thing without already having the second.",
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "dependence.condition",
      "window.range",
      "parameter.condition",
      "model.representation"
    ],
    "interaction": "self-model.reflexive",
    "novel_properties": [
      "paradox.ontological"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "text": "A job posting requires two years of experience, but no one hires juniors to gain it.",
      "domain": "economics"
    },
    {
      "text": "The F-22 Raptor fleet often grounded because spare parts production requires usage data from active fleets.",
      "domain": "engineering"
    },
    {
      "text": "CRISPR gene editing in human embryos requires validated cell lines, but ethical review boards demand prior validation in embryos.",
      "domain": "biology"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [],
  "used_by": [],
  "forms": [
    "catch twenty two"
  ],
  "closed": false,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "phrases:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.7,
    "sources": [
      "folk phrase — stacked dependency"
    ]
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-catch-twenty-two.dependency"
}