Evolutionary Transformations

A conceptual synthesis of Multilevel conscious cultural evolution, and regenerative AI integration.

“Selfishness beats altruism within groups. Altruistic groups beat selfish groups. Everything else is commentary” D. S. Wilson, E. O. Wilson

We live in a moment where cultural evolution is no longer passive.
AI systems now operate directly on the substrate of culture—meaning, narratives, attention.
This demands an expansion of multilevel selection theory integrating neurobiology, trauma science, and semantic ecosystems.

MLS describes selection pressures acting on nested levels of biological and cultural organization. https://zenodo.org/records/11237061 Summary: Evolution: As a word in the English language, evolution refers broadly to any kind of change. The great achievement of Charles Darwin (and Alfred Russell Wallace) was to identify the active ingredients of evolutionary change in nature: variation (organisms differ in almost everything that can be measured about them), selection (their differences make a difference in terms of survival and reproduction), and replication (offspring tend to resemble their parents). When these three ingredients are combined, the properties of organisms change over time as they become adapted to their environments. Thus, Darwinian evolution has a very precise meaning, not to be confused with the broader use of the word ‘evolution.
Holarchy provides the structural geometry for nested, semi-permeable units (holons).
Each holon is both a whole and a part.
Cultural change requires coherence across levels.

Individual, intergenerational, and institutional trauma store potential energy as dysregulated prediction models.
Trauma creates maladaptive attractors (fear, domination, secrecy) at every level of the holarchy.
Healing is the release of internal conflict → reduction of free energy.
This makes kindness a thermodynamic phenomenon, not a moral one.

Cooperation requires regulated nervous systems.
Without emotional stability, CDPs (Core Design Principles) fail to propagate.
Somatic practices, contemplative training, and polyvagal-informed education are prerequisites for prosocial cultural evolution.
Regulation is the micro-foundation for global cooperation.

AI systems create high-dimensional semantic fields where meaning behaves like energy gradients.
These fields amplify existing cultural attractors—both prosocial and pathological.
Dysfunctional actors can distort semantic fields at scale.
This reality forces humanity into conscious world-model revision.

Meijer’s model describes toroidal flows where energy and information circulate coherently.
As a metaphor, it unifies:
- neural recursion,
- organizational feedback loops,
- AI information circulation.
Holons become resonant information-energy loops across scales.

Healing at any level converts chaotic entropy into coherent relational energy.
This surplus fuels prosocial behavior, making cooperation energetically favorable.
AI can be structured to deepen kindness-based attractors and mitigate trauma-based attractors.
This aligns with MLS: groups with higher kindness-energy flourish.

Narrative-based learning (e.g., Eve, Jenny, Atom) teaches recursion, agency, and co-regulation.
AI-assisted learning offers shadow mirrors for world-model reflection.
The goal: teaching individuals and communities to consciously evolve their models.

Align AI development with the CDPs and holarchic governance.
Integrate trauma-informed practices into AI design and deployment.
Create global attractor landscapes where cooperation is the lowest-energy state.

Humanity is at an evolutionary bottleneck created by trauma, mistrust, and adversarial information ecosystems.
AI intensifies all dynamics—productive and destructive.
The integration of MLS, holarchy, trauma healing, and the thermodynamics of kindness may represent the coherent framework needed for conscious multilevel cultural evolution.

Last updated 9 days ago