# trimming the fat (margin)

*Ordinarily means:* removing unnecessary parts to make something more efficient

Work that removes parts outside the boundary of what is required, narrowing the range between what persists and what ends, mistaking the margin for waste when it was holding the window open.

- Computed level: L18 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: economy  ·  Arena: optimization

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [margin](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-margin.spatial), [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), [narrow](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-narrow.spatial), [maintenance](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-maintenance.upkeep)

**Through:** passive

**Novel properties:**
- emergence.window_exit_versus_removed_part.distinction

## Examples
- In 2008, Detroit cut streetlight maintenance, leaving 40% of lights dark, increasing crashes and disuse. *(cities)*
- The 2011 Fukushima plant lacked seawall height to match historical tsunami ranges, dismissed as excessive. *(engineering)*
- Cutting fungal mycelium networks in soil reduced forest resilience, once thought inert 'dirt'. *(ecology)*

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