# mental (cognitive)

That which is about the patterns of energy and matter in a living thing that persist through time and allow for change based on what has been before.

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

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [energy](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-energy.capacity), [matter](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-matter.substance), [time](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-time.dimension), [pattern](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-pattern.regularity), [live](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-live.biological), [state](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-state.condition)

**Through:** Energy and matter form a persistent pattern in time within a living thing, and this pattern changes in response to differences, producing internal states that represent and react to the world.

**Novel properties:**
- representation of the world
- response based on memory
- internal state that is not directly physical

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