Appendix: Principles of Cellular Interaction

The design for the MAP has been patterned after that of living systems. A key source of inspiration was Diane Tegtmeier's book: Relationships that Heal: Skillful Practice within Nature's Web. This book beautifully describes how Ms. Tegtmeier discovered how the principles of cellular interaction she learned during her initial education as a microbiologist could be effectively applied to healing human relationships. It not only offers a distillation of six key principles (illustrated in the following diagram), but demonstrates how they can be fractally applied at entirely different levels of agency.

Adapted from Relationships that Heal: Skillful Practice within Nature's Web by Diane Tegtmeier

Containment -- cells are circumscribed by enclosing membranes that offer a degree of separation from their surrounding environment. Thus, cells have an inside and and outside. This concept of containment can be generalized as a characteristic of all agents. In biological (genetic) organisms, the membrane is physical (e.g., cell wall, skin), whereas in memetic organisms, this membrane is virtual (e.g., the letters of incorporation of a for-profit business establishes a legal "membrane" around its affairs).

Selective Permeability --

Interspace --

Differentiation --

Sense & Respond --

Interdependence --