Sometimes it is necessary for a cognitive structure to crawl out on another, primary, cognitive structure, assess the damage and repair it, it being inconvenient to bring the primary structure back into dock. A cognitive structure capable of self-extension and operating autonomously has a continuing need for this facility, when islands of knowledge form off the coast of the base structure.
Active maps are used to attach to a structure, orient themselves, work out whether they are relevant to the situation they find, determine what new structure needs to be created, create it, then detach themselves. Sometimes, instead of creating structure, they merge objects, or replace them with other objects. This is near the limit of what a human can do – like an octopus, swimming to a site of problematic cognitive activity, assessing the situation, gathering up the loose ends, making connections, swimming away.