State — does the switch turn on, within a shared SET
With the inventory shared, a trait is present only if its switch is on: snake ZRS is off at the same γ as human (1.290 vs 1.264). γ is blind to on/off.
STATE is whether a given switch turns on or off. Within a shared SET a trait is present only if its switch is on: a white grape carries the intact color pathway but MYBA is off; a snake reads the ZRS region at the same γ as human (1.290 vs 1.264) yet the enhancer is off. γ does not read on/off — STATE is read from the cis element.
What STATE is
STATE is the on/off of a particular switch the genome already carries — discrete: on or off. The judgment rule is the R19 threshold: a cis element that can drive the switch above spinodal can be on; one that cannot is off. STATE decides trait presence/absence within a shared SET: the genome has the part, but the trait appears only when the switch is on. The part is not the trait.
The on/off reads
Color — white grape MYBA (off, pathway intact). A white-fruited grape carries the full anthocyanin pathway, but the master color switch MYBA does not turn on; the trait is absent while every downstream component remains intact and readable. The pathway is present (SET), the trait is absent because the STATE is off.
Limb — snake ZRS (off at the same γ as human).
| region | γ | enhancer STATE |
|---|---|---|
| human ZRS core | 1.264 | on (drives the limb switch) |
| human LMBR1 region | 1.281 | on |
| snake LMBR1/ZRS region | 1.290 | off (does not drive) |
The snake ZRS region reads essentially the same γ as human (1.290 vs 1.264/1.281), yet the enhancer is off — its binding does not drive the limb switch — so limbs are absent. The material is the same; the STATE is not.
On/off decides the trait
Snake and human share the SET (the limb-building switches are present in both); a white grape and its colored relatives share the SET. What differs is STATE: whether the master switch turns on. A trait is therefore present or absent within a shared inventory by its switch's on/off — discrete, one trait at a time.
γ is blind to STATE
The decisive read: snake ZRS γ ≈ human ZRS γ (1.290 vs 1.264), yet one is on and one is off. So γ (the material stiffness) does not carry the switch's on/off. STATE is read from whether the cis element can drive — whether its binding clears spinodal — not from γ.
Failure log
- γ blind to on/off: snake ZRS γ identical to human, yet the limb switch is off in one — γ cannot distinguish STATE.
- STATE read is cis-level: declaring a switch off requires reading the cis element (binding/spinodal), which γ does not provide; where unavailable, STATE is flagged, not asserted.