The Grammar of Readiness: Ontological Implications of Potential as Inclined Ability: 3 Context as the Modulator of Ability

Ability varies where inclination endures.

If readiness is the ontic posture of potential, ability is its contextual articulation. Context does not constrain potential; it differentiates it. Each context type — each configuration of field, tenor, and mode — specifies a domain of ability: the particular ways in which a system’s readiness can be realised.

In systemic functional terms, this is register variation. Each register is a subpotential, a pattern of inclined ability that makes certain instantiations possible and others improbable. Just as ability varies across registers, readiness itself remains coherent, leaning in the same general direction, even as it finds multiple paths through context.

Here, the cline of instantiation provides clarity. Ability occupies the middle ground: it is neither wholly potential nor fully instantiated, but a structured readiness shaped by context. The system’s inclination conditions it — only those abilities compatible with the underlying lean of potential can exist — yet it is through these abilities that inclination becomes locally tangible.

Example — Biological:

Consider a bird species inclined to nest in trees. The inclination is the systemic lean of its reproductive readiness. The actual abilities — constructing nests in branches of varying heights, choosing materials, cooperating with others — vary depending on local environmental context. Each ability is a context-specific realisation of the same underlying inclination.

Example — Semiotic:

A discourse system inclined toward persuasion manifests abilities differently in political debate versus advertising. The inclination persists — the system leans toward influence — but each context type modulates how that lean becomes actionable.

Through this lens, context is the modulator of ability, not the shaper of inclination. Evolution and change, at all scales, emerge from the differentiation of abilities across contexts while the orientation of readiness maintains systemic coherence.

Ability’s variability explains why reality exhibits such rich diversity. The cosmos evolves not by altering its inclination arbitrarily, but by exploring multiple articulations of ability within the constraints of its lean. Contextual differentiation is the engine of complexity.