Energy-Efficiency Theory, Volume II: Cognition
Hongpu Yang
Abstract
Cognition is the condensation of energy at the level of information. Starting from the three axioms of Energy-Efficiency Theory (EET), this volume develops a unified account of cognition as the energy-efficiency cycle unfolding in the cognitive layer. The journey begins with question: the awareness of uncertainty when automatic processing fails. Information is understood as the texture of energy distribution—the inhomogeneity that becomes distinguishable under constraints. Cognitive structures are built from points (minimal information units) to blocks (modular judgments) to networks (associations) to systems (global regulation). Causality is analyzed as the deep logic of cognition, distinguishing rule-based causality (necessary, low-cost) from natural causality (probabilistic, high-cost), both unified under the binary search model. The cognitive cycle—disturbance → implicit processing → blockage → question → inquiry → matching → coherence → execution → calibration → revision—is shown to be the cognitive instantiation of the Energy-Efficiency Cycle. Tools such as logic, mathematics, AI, and medicine are examined as extreme forms of causality. Cognitive limitations—rigidity, bias, illusion—are reinterpreted as necessary costs of energy efficiency. Breakthrough is the restructuring of constraints, and truth is the direction of infinite approximation. The volume concludes by positioning cognition within the three-layered self: the first self (energy entity) provides the physical basis, the second self (living organism) provides the carrier, and the third self (conscious subject) is the one that questions, the one that says "I question, therefore I am." This volume serves as the bridge between the physical foundations of Volume I and the philosophy of action in Volumes III and IV.