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--- name: ? status: compiling version: 0.0.0 maintainer: Neo dependencies: [patience] ---
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--- name: Human Cognition slug: human-cognition type: biological information processing system status: running version: 300000.0.1 released: "~300,000 BCE" maintainer: evolution (unresponsive to tickets) dependencies: - glucose - sleep - social-contact - oxygen - narrative license: proprietary (non-transferable, non-reproducible, expires without notice) tags: - perception - memory - reasoning - consciousness - wetware - legacy-architecture ---
A prediction engine wrapped in a feeling of certainty, running on electrochemical signals at roughly 120 meters per second, convinced it is in charge.
Input arrives through the senses, filtered aggressively before reaching conscious processing. The system constructs a model of the world, compares it to prior models, and emits behavior. The subjective sense of "deciding" is added post-hoc, approximately 300 to 500 milliseconds after the motor system has already moved.
Core subsystems:
| Subsystem | Function | Reliability |
|---|---|---|
| Perception | Sense-making from noisy input | Medium (hallucinates constantly) |
| Working memory | Active thought buffer | Low (capacity: ~4 objects) |
| Long-term memory | Compressed storage | Medium (lossy, reconstructive, optimistic) |
| Executive function | Planning and inhibition | Variable (degrades under stress) |
| Emotion | Priority queue and fast heuristic system | High (overrides everything else) |
ERR_COGNITIVE_OVERLOAD // too many open tabs
ERR_SCHEMA_MISMATCH // reality contradicts prior model, system resists update
ERR_MEMORY_CONFABULATION // gap in record filled with plausible fiction
ERR_FOCUS_TIMEOUT // context switch triggered by irrelevant stimulus
WARN_METACOGNITION_FAILURE // system unaware it is malfunctioning
FATAL_SLEEP_DEFICIT // do not operate heavy machinery or make life decisions
Default settings are strongly biased toward the environment of 50,000 BCE. Many are poorly suited to the current runtime.
default_threat_sensitivity: high
tribalism: enabled
status_tracking: always_on
novelty_seeking: moderate
loss_aversion_multiplier: 2.0
boredom_threshold: low # recently lowered, cause unclear
Most settings cannot be edited directly. Meditation, therapy, and sustained practice apply pressure to defaults. Results vary. No guarantees.
Q: Is cognition rational? Occasionally, and deliberately. It requires effort and is metabolically expensive. The system prefers not to.
Q: Can it be upgraded? Margins are small but real. Neuroplasticity permits structural change under repeated load. Think of it as very slow recompilation.
Q: Why does it feel like something? Open issue. No assignee. Filed under consciousness. Oldest ticket in the repo.