The Emergence Machine

hold · physical

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keep thing with touch and force so it does not move

Hold (verb) means: keep thing with touch and force so it does not move. It emerges from touch, force, keep, motion: touch and force together resist motion to maintain position. In the EmergenceLexicon it sits at computed level 13, chaining down to the four foundations (space, time, energy, pattern).

hold.physical · forms: held, hold, holding, holds

Examples

Emergence

from: touch force keep motion
through: touch and force together resist motion to maintain position

Chain to foundations

touchL3 touch.together: When there is no space between the boundaries of two things, and each can change the other.energyL0 energy.capacity: That by which things can be not as they were.contactL4 contact.physical: When two things are at the same place in space during time and their boundaries touch.boundaryL2 boundary.limit: The place where a thing ends and what is not the thing begins.forceL12 force.push: a press of matter that results in a change in motionsetsL3 sets.grouped: A pattern of many things that are each different from the others but are bounded together by what is the same about them.arrangementL3 arrangement.spatial: a structure of parts in space.differenceL1 difference.relation: When one thing is not the same as another; the pattern of one is not the pattern of the other.persistL1 persist.continue: To be the same through time.motionL2 motion.movement: Change of place: a thing is here, and after, it is there.structureL2 structure.arrangement: The pattern of how the parts of a thing are placed in space.surfaceL4 surface.exterior: A part of a boundary that touches a thing and is where the thing is not the thing.changeL1 change.process: When a thing is not the same after as it was before.keepL5 keep.maintenance: to make something persist in a place or stateworkL3 work.effort: a change that happens when energy moves something through spacehappenL2 happen.event-occurrence: A change that is at some place during time.stateL2 state.condition: a pattern of a thing that persists through time in a placematterL1 matter.substance: A pattern of energy that is in one place in space through time.partL1 part.relation: Something that is in a thing but is not all of that thing.interactionL2 interaction.process: When two things change each other.controlL4 control.ability: A pattern that persists through time and sets boundaries for how others can change.comeL3 come.arrive: To move through space until being at some place.patternL0 pattern.regularity: That which is the same again: what is here is also there, or what is now was also before.pressL5 press.force: to move an object until it is in contact with a surfaceobjectL4 object.entity: A thing that has a boundary and an arrangement of parts that persists through time in a place.spaceL0 space.extent: Where things can be: that in which one thing is here and another is there, apart.timeL0 time.dimension: The before and after of things: that in which a thing can be, and then not be the same.othersL2 others.distinct-entities: Things that are in space and time but not the same thing as one, or not the same pattern as one.makeL4 make.verb: Parts come together through interaction into a structure and persist in that pattern.holdL13 hold.physical: keep thing with touch and force so it does not move
full chain as text (103 steps)

Neighborhood

Concepts that depend on this one above; what it is built from below.

used by — 20 more not shownbuilt frommaintenanceL14maintenance.upkeep — Work that holds the parameters of a thing inside its window.self-modelL14self-model.reflexive — A model in a thing whose subject is the thing that holds the model.aliveL15alive.biological — inside the existence window, with maintenance holding its parameters within the window through work from within.humilityL15humility.calibrated — a self-model whose reported window is at least as wide as the range it actually holds, the one report that cannot say molimitL15limit.boundary — a wall that holds regardless of applied forcescaffoldL15scaffold.temporary — A temporary window maintained by work, within which a system forms that will later hold its own parameters inside a windself-deceptionL15self-deception.split — a system holding two self-models with no shared window, reading the one the parameter is inside, so no single model is eunderstandingL15understanding.cognitive — Holding a model together with its walls. Demonstrated by knowing where something fails.holdL13hold.physical — keep thing with touch and force so it does not movetouchL3touch.together — When there is no space between the boundaries of two things, and each can change the other.forceL12force.push — a press of matter that results in a change in motionkeepL5keep.maintenance — to make something persist in a place or statemotionL2motion.movement — Change of place: a thing is here, and after, it is there.

Used by (28)

maintenanceL14self-modelL14aliveL15humilityL15limitL15scaffoldL15self-deceptionL15understandingL15vulnerabilityL15denialL18rentL18reputationL18ancientL19integrityL19parasitismL19symbiosisL19trustL19weightL19willpowerL19bankL20conscienceL20equilibriumL20high horseL20keystoneL20rock bottomL20down to earthL21frozenL21legacyL21

Relations

is-aaction.deedaction.deed provides the category of intentional actions

Provenance

author: openrouter:openai/gpt-oss-120b · date: 2026-07-29 · confidence: 0.6