Developed at the University of Glasgow, Assembly theory is a framework the Novel Universe Model uses to conceptualize emergence, based on Cronin & Walker’s Assembly Index – a value associated with the degree of an object’s individual complexity, derived from its number and variety of components, as well as the number of steps required to disassemble the object into its base components. The higher the Index, the more likely the object was invented, rather than discovered – invented, meaning it was intentionally designed by a “creator;” discovered, meaning it evolved through the process of natural selection. For example, a discovered pile of pebbles has a lower Index than an invented pile of Lego pieces. Each pebble has its own random shape, its pile resembling every other pile of stuff. Alternatively, those Lego pieces were painstakingly designed to function within a larger whole, and the larger whole, designed to resemble a particular shape – not some random pile, but perhaps a home, or spaceship.
The pile of pebbles is disassembled in a few steps – from pile, to pebbles, to minerals, to atoms. On the other hand, the “pile” of Lego pieces is disassembled in many steps – from a single structure, to a few surfaces (roof, walls, floors, etc.), to lots of bricks, to a complex plastic, to more basic molecules, to atoms. Additionally, the plastic results from a process of chemical assembly, arguably more complex than the Lego house itself. For higher-level objects to assemble, lower-level components must first stabilize their Index. In other words, each Lego piece is not its own random shape and plastic formula. Instead, the formula and shapes are standardized, creating those iconic interconnecting nubs and spaces we all know so well.
From particles to people to planets, all objects are unified by the assembly of their components, each component an object with its own components – the LOB-HOC hierarchy of scale. Assembly theory intuitively and mathematically demonstrates how and why a pile of pebbles might be randomly discovered, but there’s nothing random about a pile of Legos in the shape of one’s childhood home. Such objects are unique, conscious expressions of reality’s foundational purpose – novelty – and will not be discovered, but, necessarily, invented.
If human beings were to organize ourselves at a higher level of complexity, what would that imply? The Novel Universe Cult hopes that the evolution of humanity will no longer be restricted to the destructive “bottleneck” of natural selection, but will embrace the constructive process of conscious invention. To that end, we offer our NU Model, not so much as a ridged template, but a new paragraph in this ongoing, global conversation. Our assertion is that every human is a co-equal Lower-Order Body, and no individual, institution, nor any organization might become our Higher-Order Conductor, including the Novel Universe Cult. Like the neurons of a brain, it is only together that we might coalesce as a planetary Higher-Order Conductor – a global culture. What will that be like? The Cult has no idea, but we aim to set an example – Lower-Order Bodies functioning as a Higher-Order Conductor, aka, a cult without a “cult leader.” Our faith is that we all might invent what humanity might become, and for the first time on this planet, emergence might be consciously, intentionally forged by the Lower-Order Bodies themselves – all of us in the sustainable stability of balance.
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