Pancognition
The concept that cognition—the processing of information, formation of representations, and adaptation based on feedback—is a universal property of all physical systems. It extends beyond even biological intelligence to include the "cognitive" behaviors of non-living systems: a river "finds" the path of least resistance, a crystal "selects" its lattice structure, a star "balances" fusion and gravity. Pancognition argues that cognition is not a special faculty of brains but a fundamental characteristic of matter in motion, redefining cognition as the capacity to register and respond to information.
Example: When a sunflower turns to track the sun, that's biological cognition. When a weather system forms a hurricane, that's meteorological dynamics. Pancognition sees both as instances of the same phenomenon: a system processing information about its environment and reorganizing itself accordingly. The hurricane doesn't "think" like you do, but it "cognizes" atmospheric pressure gradients. Cognition, in this view, is what matter does when it is causally connected.
Pancognition by Dumu The Void February 11, 2026
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