The Emergence Machine

life · biological

Ask Prometheus
L15 review noun open compare →

a state where matter persists through time and uses energy to maintain its pattern despite change

Life (noun) means: a state where matter persists through time and uses energy to maintain its pattern despite change. It emerges from matter, energy, pattern, change: matter, energy, and pattern interact over time, with energy being used to maintain the pattern through change, allowing the system to persist in a stable condition. In the EmergenceLexicon it sits at computed level 15, chaining down to the four foundations (space, time, energy, pattern).

life.biological · forms: life, lives

Examples

Emergence

from: matter energy pattern change keep persist state time use maintenance
through: matter, energy, and pattern interact over time, with energy being used to maintain the pattern through change, allowing the system to persist in a stable condition

Chain to foundations

holdL13 hold.physical: keep thing with touch and force so it does not movetimeL0 time.dimension: The before and after of things: that in which a thing can be, and then not be the same.happenL2 happen.event-occurrence: A change that is at some place during time.comeL3 come.arrive: To move through space until being at some place.flowL3 flow.movement: Motion of many parts of matter together through one place.matterL1 matter.substance: A pattern of energy that is in one place in space through time.pressL5 press.force: to move an object until it is in contact with a surfacemakeL4 make.verb: Parts come together through interaction into a structure and persist in that pattern.actL3 act.deed: do somethingtouchL3 touch.together: When there is no space between the boundaries of two things, and each can change the other.conditionL3 condition.state: a state of a thing that persists through time in a placerangeL3 range.spatial: the space between two boundariespatternL0 pattern.regularity: That which is the same again: what is here is also there, or what is now was also before.boundaryL2 boundary.limit: The place where a thing ends and what is not the thing begins.persistL1 persist.continue: To be the same through time.maintenanceL14 maintenance.upkeep: Work that holds the parameters of a thing inside its window.changeL1 change.process: When a thing is not the same after as it was before.energyL0 energy.capacity: That by which things can be not as they were.interactionL2 interaction.process: When two things change each other.motionL2 motion.movement: Change of place: a thing is here, and after, it is there.objectL4 object.entity: A thing that has a boundary and an arrangement of parts that persists through time in a place.arrangementL3 arrangement.spatial: a structure of parts in space.insideL5 inside.spatial: in the space that is within an object's boundaryoutsideL6 outside.spatial: the space that is not inside a thing's boundarypartL1 part.relation: Something that is in a thing but is not all of that thing.spaceL0 space.extent: Where things can be: that in which one thing is here and another is there, apart.lifeL15 life.biological: a state where matter persists through time and uses energy to maintain its pattern despite changeforceL12 force.push: a press of matter that results in a change in motionothersL2 others.distinct-entities: Things that are in space and time but not the same thing as one, or not the same pattern as one.deviceL5 device.tool: A thing made of matter in which energy flows through a structure to do some change.workL3 work.effort: a change that happens when energy moves something through spacedifferenceL1 difference.relation: When one thing is not the same as another; the pattern of one is not the pattern of the other.stateL2 state.condition: a pattern of a thing that persists through time in a placeuseL6 use.application: to make something change by acting on itwindowL7 window.range: The range of a parameter within which a thing can be; outside it the thing ends though its parts persist.structureL2 structure.arrangement: The pattern of how the parts of a thing are placed in space.parameterL4 parameter.condition: A condition of a thing that can change while the thing persists.contactL4 contact.physical: When two things are at the same place in space during time and their boundaries touch.surfaceL4 surface.exterior: A part of a boundary that touches a thing and is where the thing is not the thing.keepL5 keep.maintenance: to make something persist in a place or state
full chain as text (146 steps)

Neighborhood

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

used bybuilt from — 2 more not shownbiologicalL16biological.life — it is about matter that livesbushL16bush.plant — a small living growth of matter whose parts are arranged in spacecellL16cell.biological — a bounded piece of matter in which life persist and interactdeathL16death.biological — when a living thing is not here any more, its life endshumanL16human.person — a person that lives as lifelifeL15life.biological — a state where matter persists through time and uses energy to maintain its pattern despite changematterL1matter.substance — A pattern of energy that is in one place in space through time.energyL0energy.capacity — That by which things can be not as they were.patternL0pattern.regularity — That which is the same again: what is here is also there, or what is now was also before.changeL1change.process — When a thing is not the same after as it was before.keepL5keep.maintenance — to make something persist in a place or statepersistL1persist.continue — To be the same through time.stateL2state.condition — a pattern of a thing that persists through time in a placetimeL0time.dimension — The before and after of things: that in which a thing can be, and then not be the same.

Used by (5)

biologicalL16bushL16cellL16deathL16humanL16

Relations

is-astate.conditionis-a

Provenance

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