From Autonomous Living Systems to the Cumulative Symbolic Regime: Architecture, Threshold, and Testing Protocol

Architecture, metrics, mechanism, test

1. Minimal explanatory architecture Autonomous living core O, R, I An autonomous living system is defined by an internal cycle O, R, I, sustained by self maintenance.

Organization (O): routines, structure, specialization, resource allocation. Resilience (R): buffers, redundancy, repair, shock tolerance. Regulation or integration (I): trade offs, control, synchronization, internal couplings.

Viability V(t), operational metric V(t) is the capacity to maintain self maintenance under constraint, measured by a score fixed a priori over a window [t-Δ, t].

Normalized general form: V(t) = ω₁·Survival(t) + ω₂·Net energy(t) + ω₃·Integrity(t) + ω₄·Reproduction or persistence(t)

Differences ΔV are evaluated on the same window [t-Δ, t], with a declared intervention protocol.

Operational choices by domain: Cellular: growth rate, membrane integrity, ATP load, error rate, survival. Organism: survival, energy costs, task performance, injury, reproduction. Human group: demographic stability, net production, mortality, shock robustness, cooperation.

Minimal lock No need for a universal V(t). Need a viability vector and an aggregation declared before testing. The metric is fixed ex ante.

Second cycle, variation, selection, transmission A second external cycle, variation, selection, transmission, feeds back on O, R, I and reconfigures its internal dynamics.

Activation condition for the second cycle The external cycle is active if the mismatch Σ(t) exceeds a threshold Σ* for a duration τ.

Σ(t) = max(0, D(E(t)) - C(O(t), R(t), I(t))) D(E) is environmental demand, C(O, R, I) is the system’s current capacity.

By default, C(O, R, I) is a synergistic capacity, for example C(O, R, I) = O·R·I or a weighted geometric mean. The exact form is fixed before testing.

Σ*: stress threshold. τ: minimal duration to avoid transient activations.

Falsifiable criterion If the second cycle activates while Σ(t) ≤ Σ* almost everywhere, the activation under mismatch hypothesis fails.

Locked formulation The second cycle, variation, selection, transmission, feeds back on O, R, I by restructuring routines, buffers, and trade offs, until symbolic information becomes a major determinant of self maintenance.

Testable formulation This feedback modifies the attractors of the O, R, I cycle. It changes what stabilizes (O), what buffers (R), and what arbitrates (I). This shift in internal regimes makes the tipping point observable and falsifiable.

Conclusion The symbolic becomes a component of vital causality, not a cultural veneer.

Option, explicit link to adaptability Modulable exploratory variation (plasticity, learning) acts as a reconfiguration engine. Genetic variation provides a long term background of novelty, without acting as an instantaneous lever.

1. Order parameter and tipping Order parameter C(t) C(t) is not culture in a vague sense. It is an operational metric.

Locked formulation C(t) = intergenerational performance gain through social transmission, with genetics held constant over the considered horizon T.

Clarification on the time horizon T is fixed a priori so that the genetic contribution is constant or negligible relative to social transmission, under a declared protocol.

Symbolic support, two layers A. Symbolic stock S(t) S(t) = α₁·Repertoire(t) + α₂·Codification(t) + α₃·Transmission density(t) + α₄·Fidelity(t)

B. Symbolic efficiency s(t) s(t) = ΔV(t) / ΔS(t), measured under intervention, over the window [t-Δ, t] and with a declared protocol.

S(t) describes the available symbolic state. C(t) measures the cumulative intergenerational effect of transmission on performance. C(t) can increase with S(t), but this is not an identity.

C(t) as an order parameter in the sense of phase transitions C(t) captures the shift from a regime where transmitted information is marginal to a regime where it becomes structuring and stabilizing.

Name of the tipping Cumulative symbolic regime.

Short definition A regime in which symbols, norms, and transmissible techniques become a determining part of the group’s viability conditions, hence of individuals’ self maintenance.

1. Expected mechanistic demonstration Central criterion Show a dynamic threshold beyond which the system robustly shifts into the cumulative symbolic regime, non linearly, with transition signatures.

Operational definition of the threshold Primary criterion, slope break ΔC(t) = C(t) - C(t-1) Threshold crossed if ΔC(t) > μ_ΔC + k·σ_ΔC for m consecutive steps.

μ_ΔC and σ_ΔC are estimated over a pre threshold reference period or over a control condition, defined ex ante.

Validation criteria, phase transition signatures Critical slowing down: autocorrelation and variance increase before the threshold. Hysteresis: the return requires more than a simple decrease of parameters. Heightened sensitivity to perturbations near the threshold.

1. Testing protocol General principle The symbolic must feed back on O, R, I, and these effects must be stabilized, not merely detectable.

Causal criterion The presence of cultural artifacts is not enough. The test requires that perturbing them degrades viability. The intervention can be experimental, simulation based, or quasi experimental via an instrumented counterfactual. The protocol and the perturbation indicator are defined ex ante.