Instinctually Recognised Patterns

"Instinctually" recognised patterns are the root patterns from which other patterns are built. As similarities and differences of attributes and relations are combined, the user builds up more complex "figures" from the combinations of those elements. These figures are then seen as part of the "environment," and are eligible for inclusion in further pattern detection.

Equating, detecting that two elements conform to a pattern, and differentiation, detecting that an element does not conform to a pattern, are the two "instinctually" recognised patterns. They are complementary. Without differentiation, equality is undetectable. Without equality, there is no "norm" from which to differentiate.

Increases in similarity level the user's understanding of an environment, creating a "ground" element. This allows elements that differ from the ground to have a greater impact than were all elements in the environment "sharp." The process of increasing similarity is called "levelling," the complement, sharpening. We do not discuss levelling or sharpening at any length, there are other texts that are religiously devoted to the ideas, and which do a better job of covering it than we could here.