# habit (grooved)

a pattern become cheap enough to run without the self-model reading it, which is why it persists when the mind changes.

- Computed level: L24 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: psychology

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [pattern](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-pattern.regularity), [self-model](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-self-model.reflexive), [self](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-self.personal), [model](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-model.representation), [become](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-become.change), [cheap](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-cheap.economic), [enough](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-enough.sufficient), [run](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-run.movement), [read](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-read.information), [persist](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-persist.continue), [mind](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-mind.cognitive), [change](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-change.process)

**Through:** Repetition drives the pattern's running cost low enough that execution no longer routes through the self-model, so a change of mind edits a model the pattern never consults.

**Novel properties:**
- consult-free execution
- decision-proof persistence
- cost-earned autonomy

## Examples
- Commuters who resolve to take a new route still find themselves at the old turn on mornings when they are thinking about something else. *(psychology)*
- Fluent typists cannot say where the letters sit on a keyboard they use accurately every day. *(psychology)*
- A refactored codebase keeps its old naming conventions because contributors type them without deciding to. *(computing)*

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