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Consider the following scenario if you were at a music concert:

  • A singer sings into a microphone
  • The sound comes out from the speakers
  • The sound from the speaker is picked up by the microphone
  • The sound comes out from the speakers
  • The sound from the speaker is picked up by the microphone
  • ...

This kind of loop can manifest itself in other ways. E.g. happiness breeds success, success breeds happiness which breeds success, and so on.

What’s the best word/phrase that captures this phenomenon?

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  • Yep, it's "feedback", often with an off-color adjective attached.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Apr 12, 2020 at 18:25
  • And it should be noted that "feedback" is often used in other contexts, sometimes as an allusion to the audio effect, sometimes not.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Apr 12, 2020 at 18:42

2 Answers 2

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The first case is specifically referred to as Audio Feedback or Acoustic Feedback or even simply feedback

As for the general case you mentioned, it could be called a self-perpetuating cycle.

The terms vicious/virtuous cycle are also used depending on the favorability of the repeating outcomes

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I think "loop" does the job, but when I think of it only perpetual feedback comes to me

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