Practice morphogenetic creative processes

A morphogenetic process follows a system of simple rules (like a genetic code), and evolves through patient application of those rules. Starting from a single, small but complete system, space is gradually differentiated while maintaining the wholeness of the overall system. Morphogenetic creativity starts with wholeness.

Christopher Alexander: Four conditions necessary for unfolding

1. Practice step-by-step adaptation (Reduce batch size and increase frequency), structure-preserving transformations.
2. Feedback: continuous and relatively immediate feedback
3. Unpredictability: allow the whole to go where it must go, openness to future, lack of predictability. It must be all right for the thing to become whatever it becomes, under the influence of adaptation and feedback, even though one does not know, in detail, what that thing is going to be.
4. Awareness of the whole - Practice awareness of the whole

Examples

• When writing, start with Evergreen notes and Draft speculative outlines
• When designing, start with Patterns and A Pattern Language.
• When coding, Reduce batch size and increase frequency of commits
• When painting, Sketch the whole first and move forward toward developing smaller centers at different scales.

The result is a living whole with distinct Living centers in which The Quality Without a Name can be perceived.

"Each act of building, which differentiates a part of space, needs to be followed soon by further acts of building, which further differentiate the space to make it still more whole." The Timeless Way of Building