How should I understand such sentences without auxiliary verbs?

Question

When I am reading Philosophy and Simulation, I encountered the sentence:

"the more numerous the sequences converging on a pattern the higher the likelihood that one of them will occur by chance."

But I could not understand what the sentence means. Could you paraphrase it for me? And could you explain how such sentences are grammatically correct because I have never seen such a sentence before?

This spontaneity is explained both by the fact that the patterns are small-patterns made out of a few live cells have a higher probability of occurring than large ones-and by the fact that they can arise following several sequences of predecessor patterns: the more numerous the sequences converging on a pattern the higher the likelihood that one of them will occur by chance.

Answer 1

Understanding where to pause is important for understanding a sentence like this.

the more numerous the sequences converging on a pattern (pause) the higher the likelihood that one of them will occur by chance.

In other words, when the sequences converging on a pattern are more numerous, that increases the likelihood that one of them will occur by chance.

Answer 2

It means: if the sequences converge on a pattern more numerously, it will be more likely that one of them occur by chance.

These structures are called "Double Comparatives". These clauses have a conditional relationship, and the condition is always stated in the first clause.

For example:

The more I read, the more I understand.

Its meaning is the same as the whole sentence: reading more about something helps me to understand it better.

You can also use "less" in one of your clauses and "more" in another one. I mean you don't need to use just "more" in both clauses. For example:

The more I know her, the less I like her.