When a regularity that is nearly universal for stable systems has an obligate number of steps for it to occur and function, it is called a process. A researcher should be able to identify the specific steps and their obligate sequence. When these steps and sequence are compared across many real systems (phenomena) and abstracted to the same level of abstraction (and according to the rules for abstraction) and found to be the same, then they are isomorphic.
All lists are in alphabetical form so someone can go directly to the information they seek by seeking the first letters of the term most often used to denote the isomorphy. SPT uses the long history of taxonomies learned in biology to distinguish four different types of listings:
- LUMPERS list (results from clustering together several like isomorphies; thereby one of the shortest, most constrained lists; loses resolution)
- SPLITTERS list (has the highest resolution and specificity)
- EXOTIC list ()
We also break up the Isomorphies into these groupings to allow for the large number to be broken up into smaller, more manageable groupings. Please see other sections of this website for the arguments why we insist on the “process” approach to studying systems.