# Recursion **Domain:** Computation / Mathematics / Language / Cognition **Doc Type:** Concept Node **Maturity:** Developed **Related:** [[Self-Reference]], [[Recursive Self-Modification]], [[Formal Systems]], [[Twittering Machine]] --- ## Definition **Recursion** is a process in which a rule, function or structure refers to or operates upon instances of itself. In computation, recursive procedures solve a problem through smaller instances governed by a base condition. In language, art and philosophy, recursion can describe embedded structures, feedback and self-reference. Recursion is not identical to repetition. Repetition produces another occurrence; recursion re-enters a rule or structure at another level. ## Corpus Function Recursion links [[Formal Systems]], [[Self-Reference]], [[Recursive Self-Modification]] and the machine-intelligence readings in [[articles/Bauhaus Architects of AI|Bauhaus Architects of AI]]. [[Twittering Machine]] supplies a visual metaphor of repeated mechanical activation, but the work’s artistic loop should not be mistaken for a formal recursive algorithm without further specification. ## Key Insight **Recursion becomes generative when re-entry changes the scale, state or context of the operation.**