Prologue: The Question of Life
What distinguishes living from non-living? Aristotle, Schrödinger, NASA—every classical answer captures a necessary condition but none is sufficient: fire metabolizes, mules don’t reproduce, crystals grow, computers process information. Book VI is the second self-enrichment layer E₂: where the kernel’s physical structure becomes capable of recognizing itself. Two earned predicates —Distinction and SelfDesc—replace every classical laundry list, and the 4+1 sector template organizes all of biology by structural role.