# moving target (drift)

*Ordinarily means:* A goal or condition that keeps changing and is hard to hit.

A parameter that changes without cause, making the window of success close before it can be reached.

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

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [parameter](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-parameter.condition), [drift](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-drift.aimless), [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)

**Through:** A thing that is not the same as another thing changes the pattern of another thing.

**Novel properties:**
- drift.aimless
- window.range
- wall.range-end

## Examples
- In 2019, California's rolling blackouts shifted peak restriction hours unpredictably, leaving households unable to align generator use. *(engineering)*
- The International Space Station's orbit decays by up to 100 meters per day due to atmospheric drag, requiring regular reboosts. *(physics)*
- U.S. immigration policy under the 2020 MPP program relocated processing sites monthly, delaying asylum applications by months. *(institutions)*

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