Recursive Distinctioning

TL;DR

Recursive distinctioning (RD) is a process where patterns emerge from systematically applying distinction and description operations on graph-structured data, leading to recursive structures that describe their own states.

Contribution

This paper introduces the concept of recursive distinctioning, formalizing how patterns arise from iterative distinction and description operations on graphs.

Findings

RD formalizes pattern emergence from recursive descriptions

It applies to various graph structures like lines, lattices, and arbitrary graphs

Provides a framework for understanding self-referential pattern formation

Abstract

Recursive distinctioning (RD) is a name coined by Joel Isaacson in his original patent document describing how fundamental patterns of process arise from the systematic application of operations of distinction and description upon themselves. Recursive distinctioning means just what it says. A pattern of distinctions is given in a space based on a graphical structure (such as a line of print or a planar lattice or given graph). Each node of the graph is occupied by a letter from some arbitrary alphabet. A specialized alphabet is given that can indicate distinctions about neighbors of a given node. The neighbors of a node are all nodes that are connected to the given node by edges in the graph. The letters in the specialized alphabet (call it SA) are used to describe the states of the letters in the given graph and at each stage in the recursion, letters in SA are written at all nodes in the graph, describing its previous state. The recursive structure that results from the iteration of descriptions is called recursive distinctioning.