What this figure shows

This figure illustrates the temporal organisation of viability-oriented biological activity in the APS framework. Biological agency is enacted in the present as constraint-closed activity; persistence sustains that organisation through time, adaptation reorganises it under changing conditions, inheritance extends it across generations, transformation integrates durable change into organisational structure, and evolution represents the long-term historical transformation of persistence-sustaining biological organisation. Persistence, adaptation, and evolution are shown as analytic temporal dimensions of the same ongoing organisational process.

APS temporal concepts

This diagram unifies the five APS temporal concepts:

  • Agency — Present activity
  • Persistence — Continuity through time
  • Adaptation — Reorganisation under change
  • Inheritance — Generational continuity
  • Evolution — Historical transformation

Temporal architecture

The architecture can be expressed as:

agency
↓
persistence
↓
adaptation
↓
inheritance
↓
transformation
↓
evolution