# responsibility (moral)

a self-model that represents itself as one of the conditions setting other systems' walls. Which is why it can be accepted, and refused.

- Computed level: L15 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: social  ·  Arena: ethics

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [self-model](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-self-model.reflexive), [model](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-model.representation), [parameter](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-parameter.condition), [wall](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-wall.range-end), [system](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-system.organized), [condition](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-condition.state), [self](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-self.personal), [setting](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-setting.contextual)

**Through:** These components together enable a reflexive self-model to represent its own enduring state as a condition that influences the boundaries of organized systems, within a stable context.

**Novel properties:**
- moral self-attribution
- contextual accountability
- boundary-setting agency

## Examples
- The 2003 Northeast Blackout spread because FirstEnergy Corp failed to maintain tree trimming schedules on power lines in Ohio. *(engineering)*
- Dr. Anthony Fauci, as NIAID director, publicly adjusted pandemic guidance as new viral data emerged, updating his stance on masks and transmission. *(institutions)*
- The Toyota Production System assigns each worker authority to stop the assembly line upon detecting a defect, documented in the 1988 NUMMI plant operations. *(economics)*

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