# cognitive (mental)

the ability to form knowledge by thinking about things

- Computed level: L20 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: emergence  ·  Arena: cognitive

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [knowledge](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-knowledge.cognitive), [think](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-think.cognitive), [ability](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-ability.capacity), [form](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-form.shape)

**Through:** thinking interacts with things through the capacity to form new knowledge structures

**Novel properties:**
- mental representation
- cognitive structure
- emergent understanding

## Examples
- In 2012, IBM's Watson processed natural language clues to win at Jeopardy! against human champions. *(computing)*
- A honeybee navigates using remembered landmarks and the sun's position to return to its hive. *(biology)*
- The Library of Alexandria collected and preserved scrolls to form a centralized repository of known texts. *(institutions)*

## Used by
- [training](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-training.skill) (L22)

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