the.com

Everything that happens after your decision stops being your problem.

means In the direction a river flows, or metaphorically, the consequences and effects that follow an initial action or decision.

from Literally from river navigation: 'down' the current's direction + 'stream' the flow itself. By the 1800s, industries using water power used it directionally. Metaphorical use exploded in software and business: if you ship broken code, the QA team is downstream of your mess.

river physicswater moves downstream at 3–6 feet per second in typical rivers

salmon paradoxsalmon swim upstream to spawn, defying the easier downstream drift

business jargondownstream partner means someone dealing with your output later

data flowdownstream processing handles raw input after upstream collection

for instance

mississippi river delta — new orleans sits 500 miles downstream of memphis, catching everything upstream sends

software supply chain — npm package vulnerabilities affect millions of downstream developers

flint water crisis — lead contamination hit downstream residents in 2014, upstream decisions by officials

what’s happening now · the.com · generated