Assembling the Novel Universe

Let’s revisit the bedsheet and how it came into being– the creation of a concept (model) called a “bed.” When considering any object, such as a bed, how far is function from form? One might make a bed from any number of things in any number of ways. We can “discover” a bed– simply lay down on a pile of hay– or “invent” a bed– stitch together a giant sack and stuff it full of feathers. Each attempt balances the design’s efficiency (using the least variety of components with the fewest copies and “factory” steps) in order to meet the overall goal– in this case, the comfort required to fall asleep. After centuries, the general repetition of design means we’ve settled on the assembled invention called a “bed,” consisting of a standard set of components: pillow, sheet, blanket, mattress, and frame.

Not only does emergence make life manageable for any creature of complexity through its mental models, but assembles everything, from the evolution of molecules to the invention of mattresses. To paraphrase Assembly Theory (AT),[i] an object’s complexity is born from its variety of components, each component’s individual abundance, and minimum number of steps to disassemble– its Assembly Index.[ii] This complexity (parts, copies, and steps) is the “embedded” history of the object– its “memory.”[iii] The Assembly Index also implies the minimum number of “factory” steps required to fashion the object from its constituent components. The higher the Assembly Index, the more it indicates the object evolved from being “discovered” to being “invented.” In one instance, 15 steps[iv] successfully distinguished between non-living and living fossils.

Just as we have replaced simple hay and feathers with all kinds of complex foams, we’ll continue to invent other novel ways to increase comfort while decreasing inefficiencies through innovation. In centuries past, one might’ve walked right past a pile of hay under a tree and not realized it’s someone’s bed– random piles of hay exist in any number of places. However, seeing a headboard, duvet, and bed frame under that same tree today would certainly stick out. Understanding an object’s Assembly Index is to acknowledge that when it comes to a bed, a mattress (invented) is more complex than a pile of hay (discovered). The “low memory” object, hay, is simply harvested, dried, and stacked. A mattress is a “high memory” object, painstakingly constructed from proprietary processes, including foams, threads, springs, etc., each component with its own Assembly Index. Additionally, the difference between object indices is often visually apparent– unlike the symmetric boundary of a mattress (high), a pile of hay appears chaotic (low). Calculating an object’s Assembly Index can tell us if it evolved or was designed. Is that hunk of metal found in the desert from an alien spacecraft, or just a fluke of nature? Its Assembly Index might answer that.

As an object’s Index settles, it’s more likely to become a component in a higher-order object. Let’s combine the components of pillow, sheets, mattress, etc. (lowest-order) into a bed (low-order). Beds join sofas, appliances, cabinets, floors, etc. as an apartment (high-order). Apartments collect alongside parks, skyscrapers, sidewalks, stores, etc. to form a city (higher-order). Cities gather with towns, freeways, forests, reservoirs, etc. to create countries (highest-order). In effect, without mattresses, we don’t have a global society, any more than we can have humans without mitochondria.

A human being is a model of motion and emotion, built of a vast universe of minds within minds, each Higher-Order Conductor with little understanding beyond their own models– Lower-Order Bodies. Complex things are assembled from core components. Countless atoms combine into countable molecules. An endless variety of molecules might gather into a number of discrete substances, each a player in a cell’s chemical machinery. Chemical reactions require resources, and the baffling system of metabolism– fundamentally interwoven with emotion–[v] is geared to recognize shortcomings, eventually sending the uncomfortable signal to the brain to refresh supplies. The pangs of hunger inspire us to eat, subsequently acquiring those resources to enable that chemistry– the assembly of all those useful cellular objects.

From the basic assembly of atoms, to molecules, to cells, and tissues, the biological forms of life take root. By bending option space, at each level of assembled complexity, a Higher-Order Conductor directs its Lower-Order Bodies, each Lower-Order Body an HOC for its nested LOB. No matter the design of the energy body, no matter the intent of its level of complexity, it’s all a conversation among the Signature-Frequency Sets involved, and the effort to express their combined preferences through the competency of communal cognition.