# normalisation of deviance (drift)

*Ordinarily means:* When people gradually accept risky behaviors as normal without realizing it.

A slow change in what is considered acceptable, where each small shift stays within the range of what can persist, so no alarm sounds even as the whole range moves closer to a boundary.

- Computed level: L12 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: safety culture  ·  Arena: organizational behavior

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

**Through:** self-model.reflexive

**Novel properties:**
- emergent.window

## Examples
- NASA engineers gradually accepted O-ring erosion as normal after 23 prior shuttle launches showed no catastrophe. *(engineering)*
- The 2008 financial crisis emerged as banks routinely approved subprime mortgages, treating high risk as routine. *(economics)*
- Chernobyl operators disabled safety systems repeatedly during tests, treating protocol violations as standard procedure. *(institutions)*

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