# scale (parameter)

A parameter whose window is narrower than another parameter, so that drift in the thing appears greater when observed through the wider parameter.

- Computed level: L12 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: window  ·  Arena: parameter.condition window.range wall.range-end drift.aimless

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

**Through:** The difference in width between two parameter windows amplifies the perceived drift when observed through the wider one.

**Novel properties:**
- comparative narrowness of parameter windows
- amplified perceived drift

## Examples
- The Hubble Space Telescope's gyroscope failures caused attitude drift, requiring wider orbital corrections every few years. *(engineering)*
- In 2008, Iceland’s banking sector collapse revealed how currency scale magnified drift in national wealth estimates. *(economics)*
- Neural firing rates in the hippocampus appear erratic when measured in milliseconds, but stabilize over seconds. *(biology)*

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