# current (present)

Of the time that is now.

- Computed level: L1 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: published  ·  Domain: systems

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [time](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-time.dimension)

**Through:** Time runs on while a thing persists; picking out the one moment that is now separates what is the case from what was or will be.

**Novel properties:**
- a reference point that moves
- the place drift is measured from

## Used by
- [ambiguity](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-ambiguity.state) (L14)
- [at capacity](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-at-capacity.threshold) (L11)
- [brink](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-brink.edge) (L12)
- [chaos](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-chaos.unpredictable-drift) (L12)
- [country in decline](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-country-in-decline.downward) (L19)
- [founding fathers](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-founding-fathers.origin) (L19)
- [golden age](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-golden-age.past-peak) (L21)
- [good enough](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-good-enough.threshold) (L16)
- [greatest generation](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-greatest-generation.past-cohort) (L19)
- [hope](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-hope.emotional) (L15)
- [hunger for change](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-hunger-for-change.appetite) (L16)
- [lessons of history](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-lessons-of-history.past-model) (L19)
- [margin](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-margin.spatial) (L9)
- [no room for error](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-no-room-for-error.threshold) (L15)
- [on a shoestring](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-on-a-shoestring.margin) (L17)
- [possibility](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-possibility.potential) (L12)
- [pushing the envelope](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-pushing-the-envelope.frontier) (L18)
- [questions](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-questions.linguistic) (L9)
- [right side of history](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-right-side-of-history.destined) (L19)
- [rising power](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-rising-power.upward) (L16)
- [status](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-status.social) (L20)
- [strain](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-strain.measurable-degradation) (L12)
- [we built this](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-we-built-this.maker-claim) (L19)

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