finding

active

finding:on-a-growing-crystal-incoming-molecules-preferentially-attach-where-binding-energy-is-greatest-causing-plane-faces-to-perpetuate-themselves-and-wholeness-to-be-preserved-in-crystal-growth

On a growing crystal, incoming molecules preferentially attach where binding energy is greatest, causing plane faces to perpetuate themselves and wholeness to be preserved in crystal growth.

Physical chemistry finding illustrating a purely local mechanism that nonetheless produces global structure preservation

Neighborhood — ranked by edge-count

Claims (1)

claim

Individual mechanical explanations for each property are too specific to provide a general explanation for why living structure repeatedly appears across all domains.
supports
Alexander's argument that case-by-case mechanical explanations fail to address the universal recurrence of living structure

Related by similarity (8)

cosine ≥ 0.65 · no typed edge

Entities in the same semantic neighborhood but without a typed relation to this one — candidates for new edges or unrecognized duplicates.

Binding Energy in Crystal Growthconcept0.830
The mechanism by which incoming molecules preferentially attach to corners with greatest binding energy, perpetuating plane faces and preserving crystal wholeness
Bone growth adds material where stress is greatest, equalizing stress throughout — a direct local mechanism producing global form that selective advantage acting over generations cannot adequately explain.claim0.782
One of Alexander's examples of morphogenetic puzzles that exceed Darwinian explanation
Isomeric molecules are equally stable despite identical energy levels because transition requires passage through higher-energy intermediate configurations.finding0.772
In nature, unfolding often consists of a process that establishes local symmetries one by one.claim0.763
Connects biological morphogenesis to architectural process.
By sharing stress with neighbors, one cell’s (or region’s) problem becomes everyone’s problem, leading to a higher willingness to adopt new configurations in which everyone’s free energy is lower (and thus, more optimal morphogenetic problem-solving).quote0.763
Encapsulates the core idea of stress sharing as collective cooperation.
If the evolution of the natural world follows a step-by-step process in which each step is structure-preserving, then the fifteen properties will appear more and more often, and the degree of life in the wholeness will increase steadily.hypothesis0.759
Conditional statement linking smooth unfolding to the progressive emergence of the fifteen properties and increased life.
In embryological development, chemistry and cell migrations are mechanisms that do the work but are simply not the principal thing going on — the fifteen properties and their unfolding are.claim0.758
Alexander's interpretive priority claim distinguishing mechanistic substrate from the morphogenetic principle at work
Aperiodic structure of genetic molecules enables exponential diversity of encodable information compared to periodic crystals.claim0.757
Schrödinger argues that non-repeating molecular structure (aperiodic solid) allows information density far exceeding periodic/crystalline alternatives.