2.3 / BOUNDARIES

p 158-

THE PHENOMENON OF LIFE

“virtually no boundaries at any scale”

“replete with boundaries at every scale”

“The purpose of the boundary which surrounds a center is twofold.”

1. “it focuses attention on the center and thus helps to produce the center.”

2. “it unites the center which is being bounded with the world beyond the boundary”

“the boundary must at the same time . . .”

“It does this by forming the field of force which creates and intensifies the center which is bounded.”

- be distinct from the center being bounded

- keep this center distinct and separate from the world beyond it

- have the capacity of uniting that center with the world beyond the boundary

THE PROCESS OF CREATING LIFE

Then the boundary both unites and separates.

″. . . the boundary needs to be of the same order of magnitude as the center which is being bounded.”

An effective boundary for the river Seine consists of roads, walls, paths, quays, trees, something almost as massive as the river itself.

STRUCTURE-PRESERVING TRANSFORMATIONS

6 / HOW THE FIFTEEN PROPERTIES APPEAR IN NATURE FROM THE UNFOLDING OF WHOLENESS

. . . the boundary itself is also formed of centers.

A two-inch border cannot hold a three-foot field.

“3. BOUNDARIES.”

In all cases, the boundaries help one set of spaces to insulate and reinforce the functions of others by creating . . .

″. . . each center which exists has a latent boundary zone around it just by virtue of the nature of the center, separating it from adjacent centers and joining it to them.”

- zones of separation

joining what to what? separating the center from adjacent centers and joining the center to them. ok

“The boundary zone is the zone where the steepest gradient of differentiation falls off around the center, thus distinguishing it as a center.”

a one-dimensional thing may be bounded by one-dimensional zones at its ends

the lips as the boundary of the mouth are similar in size to the mouth

A two-dimensional surface within a room may be bounded by other two-dimensional zones in space.

“it must occur . . . around any center”

A three-dimensional volume may be bounded by a smaller volume around its edge.

“Under structure-preserving transformations, this latent boundary zone will intensity and encourage new centers to form within the boundary zone, as it strengthnhss the existing center, ultimately creating a big boundary which is strong in itself.”

“in the sun’s corona”

“in the piling of silt along the Rio Negro where it goes into the Amazon”

“in the formation of the boundary around a human cell”

“The main center brings with it a boundary zone, and then soon this boundary zone is filled with activity, forming additional and smaller centers that ultimately become structures in themselves.”

“The process is quite general. Gradually . . . centers form boundaries, and the property BOUNDARIES will be found repeatedly throughout space.”