Transition from homeostasis to self-generation involves rupture, not smooth continuity

Evidence

The plasticity that situates subjectivity between maintenance and construction or production of newness is not smooth. The ”chain” that leads from elementary life to the autonomy of a free self, capable not only of integrating the disturbances arriving from the exterior without dissolving itself but also of creating itself out of them, of making its own history, is a movement full of turbulence. Homeostatic energy and self-generating energy are obviously not of the same kind. — Catherine Malabou, What Should We Do with Our Brain?, 250

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes plasticity as a non-smooth movement between two qualitatively different energies, sharply distinguishing it from flexible adaptation.
• XREF: Connects to the broader plasticity-vs-flexibility distinction and to the resilience literature (Cyrulnik) discussed next. — connects to: Trauma overwhelms the protective shield before homeostasis can respond. — Catherine Malabou, The New Wounded: From Neurosis to Brain…, 4027; The older girl’s growth becomes smooth adaptation instead of upheaval