# narrative (self-story)

A story a self model tells about its own past and future, which sets which actions read as its own.

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

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [story](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-story.narrative), [self-model](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-self-model.reflexive), [tell](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-tell.communication), [past](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-past.temporal), [future](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-future.temporal), [set](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-set.fix), [action](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-action.deed), [read](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-read.information)

**Through:** The self model cannot hold every past event, so it holds a story; the story then acts as a wall on what the self will do next, because acts that do not fit it read as not its own.

**Novel properties:**
- a past that sets future walls
- acts filtered by whether they fit the story

## Used by
- [american dream](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-american-dream.upward-reach) (L19)
- [asian century](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-asian-century.claimed-future) (L19)
- [country in decline](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-country-in-decline.downward) (L19)
- [crisis of faith](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-crisis-of-faith.narrative) (L19)
- [founding fathers](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-founding-fathers.origin) (L19)
- [golden age](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-golden-age.past-peak) (L21)
- [greatest generation](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-greatest-generation.past-cohort) (L19)
- [lessons of history](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-lessons-of-history.past-model) (L19)
- [lost decade](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-lost-decade.stalled) (L19)
- [miracle economy](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-miracle-economy.outran-model) (L19)
- [nation of immigrants](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-nation-of-immigrants.arrival) (L19)
- [never again](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-never-again.past-wall) (L21)
- [new chapter](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-new-chapter.rupture) (L19)
- [punching above our weight](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-punching-above-our-weight.outsized) (L19)
- [restore dignity](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-restore-dignity.status) (L21)
- [right side of history](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-right-side-of-history.destined) (L19)
- [sense of grievance](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-sense-of-grievance.collective) (L19)
- [this is who we are](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-this-is-who-we-are.identity-claim) (L19)
- [tradition](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-tradition.kept) (L19)
- [we built this](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-we-built-this.maker-claim) (L19)
- [winter of discontent](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-winter-of-discontent.strikes) (L19)

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