Orientation Framework

EMERGENCE How does level N generate level N+1? What mechanism generates this pattern? method: disrupt smooth functioning → read residual what ↔ how B inference D dynamics inspect ↔ interpret M inspect S-I interpret residual ↔ purchase Trilingual minds neural → cognitive B, D, M + S-I constitutive Neural networks computation → semantics? B, D, M + S-I reflexive Knowledge production practice → institution S-I primary "What does smooth functioning hide, and how does disruption reveal it?" Four orientations. Three substrates. Non-uniform purchase. Fallibilism as glue.

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primary purchase secondary/meta

Ever since GEB, one question has kept pulling me back: how does level N generate level N+1?

The map above is my current answer to a different question: how do I ask that question across different materials? Four orientations I’ve found generative. Three substrates I’m actually working on. Coupled in ways that feel right, with fallibilism as glue.

Not claimed as exhaustive. This is scaffolding in abductive mode, not territory I’m defending. The framework earns its keep by helping me see, not by being correct.

What’s Missing

An evolutionary orientation (why this mechanism rather than another?). An ecological one (what if the mechanism isn’t inside the system but distributed across its boundaries?).

These are the residuals I haven’t caught yet.