Inquiry Glossary

Glossary Term

Updated March 10, 2026

Cognitive Infrastructure

The background systems that shape how thinking is scaffolded, organized, and evaluated.

Working Definition

Cognitive infrastructure refers to durable socio-technical conditions that participate in reasoning by structuring access, framing, and synthesis.

Structural Expansion

Inquiry positions AI within this layer, arguing that language models are not only tools but ambient conditions that alter where judgment must occur.

Referenced in this Inquiry