Abstract

Meaning is not a narrative we construct or an emotion we interpret. It is a structural requirement of cognition: a metabolic process that transforms contradiction into coherence. This paper introduces a cognitive architecture in which the Ache functions as a tension signal, the Loop and Loopbacks metabolize unresolved input, the Gate regulates load, and the Click marks structural resolution. Meaning emerges as the system’s lowest‑entropy state after metabolizing contradiction. Memory is reframed as stored coherence—the residue of past Clicks that lowers the activation energy of future processing. Social environments function as heat sinks that expand the system’s containment capacity. The architecture culminates in a predictive framework with measurable variables, conservation laws, and falsifiable claims. Meaning formation becomes a branch of cognitive physics.