# recursion (process)

When a pattern repeats by returning to its previous state and doing again what it did before.

- Computed level: L15 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: general

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [pattern](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-pattern.regularity), [repeats](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-repeats.action), [previous](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-previous.temporal)

**Through:** A pattern refers back to an earlier instance of itself in time, causing a repetition within itself.

**Novel properties:**
- self-reference
- infinite nesting

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