Readiness, Inclination, Ability: A Relational Ontology of Embryogenesis: 6 Morphogenesis: Readiness Distributed Across Tissue

Introduction

Differentiation narrows ability and stabilises inclination at the level of individual cells. Morphogenesis is the next stage: the distributed enactment of readiness across tissue and organ systems, where the interplay of ability, inclination, and individuation shapes the functional form of the organism.

Morphogenesis is not merely structural; it is the orchestration of developmental potential across space and time, allowing local cellular perspectives to cohere into coherent, functional patterns.

Morphogenetic Constraints as Shapers of Readiness

Morphogenetic processes impose constraints that define the admissible space for cellular action:

• Mechanical forces — tension, compression, and shear guide tissue folding, elongation, and branching.

• Spatial geometries — the three-dimensional arrangement of cells modulates access to signals and resources.

• Signalling gradients — morphogens create fields that bias local inclinations in coordinated ways.

• Neighbour interactions — adhesion, repulsion, and communication mediate local coordination.

These constraints are not prescriptive instructions. They shape the developmental aperture, directing which combinations of locally individuated abilities and inclinations are actualisable.

Distributed Coordination of Ability and Inclination

At the tissue level:

• Ability is distributed: cells enact organism-level capacities within local contexts.

• Inclination is locally biased: cells are more likely to follow paths favoured by signalling, history, and mechanical context.

• Individuation provides the locus: each cell interprets the collective potential from its own perspective.

The interaction of these factors produces emergent patterns such as branching vasculature, neural networks, and organ primordia. Morphogenesis is therefore readiness in action across a distributed system.

Morphogenesis as Dynamic Negotiation

Morphogenesis is not static; it is a continuous dynamic negotiation:

• Cells adjust behaviours in response to neighbours and gradients.

• Tissues remodel in response to forces and growth.

• Feedback between local inclination and global ability maintains coherence while allowing flexibility.

This dynamic ensures that the organism develops robust form despite variability, demonstrating the power of the readiness framework for explaining emergent structure.

Morphogenesis and the Triad of Readiness

Morphogenesis illustrates the triadic structure clearly:

• Ability — distributed operational capacity, executed across cells and tissues.

• Inclination — local biases and tendencies, modulated by signals and mechanics.

• Individuation — local perspective enabling coherent interpretation and enactment of organismal potential.

The organism emerges as a coordinated, functional whole through the continual alignment of these modes.

Looking Forward

Morphogenesis illustrates how ability, inclination, and individuation operate in coordinated, distributed fashion to shape functional form. In the next post, we step back from tissues and organs to consider the organism as a whole — a system-of-theory in which potential is continually recut and perspectivally enacted. This systems perspective will reveal how the processes we have examined integrate into a dynamic, ongoing negotiation of developmental readiness.