# confusion (state)

Two models assigning one input to different windows. The productive intervention removes a model rather than adding information.

- Computed level: L15 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: window  ·  Arena: ontology

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [model](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-model.representation), [window](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-window.range), [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), [difference](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-difference.relation), [rather](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-rather.comparative), [add](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-add.operation), [information](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-information.knowledge)

**Through:** Models map an input into differing parameter windows; when divergence arises via drift, sustaining both increases upkeep, and resolution acts by removing a model instead of adding informative distinctions.

**Novel properties:**
- conflicting model persistence
- preferential model removal
- uninformational resolution

## Examples
- In 2019, Facebook's algorithm confused a Black man's face with a pet in a photo tag suggestion, merging two identity models. *(computing)*
- The 1986 Chernobyl disaster began when reactor operators and safety models assigned the same sensor input to incompatible operational windows. *(engineering)*
- In 1665, the Royal Society debated whether mold in Robert Hooke's microscope drawings showed life or artifact, assigning the same image to different explanatory models. *(science)*

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*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-confusion.state*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-confusion.state.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*