A system comprising: a processor; a data bus coupled to the processor; and a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium embodying computer program code, the non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium being coupled to the data bus. The computer program code interacting with a plurality of computer operations and comprising instructions executable by the processor and configured for: receiving data from a data source; processing the data, the processing comprising performing a parsing operation on the data, the processing the data identifying a plurality of knowledge elements based upon the parsing operation, the parsing operation comprising ranking of parse options; and, storing the knowledge elements within the cognitive graph as a collection of knowledge elements, the storing universally representing knowledge obtained from the data.