A co-evolutionary loop requires an end from both fundamental dichotomies — ”collective vs. individual” and ”behavior vs. embodiment” — because self-organization is inherently a process of reconciling internal agency with external conditions. Each loop must connect:
- One aspect of self (individual or collective)
- One aspect of process (behavioral structure or embodied action)
This necessity leads directly to the two diagonal feedback loops, which are the actual dynamic processes that connect the four quadrants and derive their meaning:
- The Organization Loop (⤢, Bottom-left ↔ Top-right) – Selection & Intent
- This loop governs selection — how individual intent (BL) is filtered and integrated into the collective arena (TR).
- Bottom-left (Development – Self-Intent): The individual selects a path of action.
- Top-right (Market – Collective Arena): The collective integrates and filters these selections into shared conditions.
- Meaning emerges through selection: The equilibrium between local autonomy and collective coherence forms the structure of decision-making itself.
- The Activity Loop (⤡, Top-left ↔ Bottom-right) – Variation & Execution
- This loop governs variation — how collective knowledge (TL) is enacted through individual embodiment (BR).
- Top-left (Ontology – Collective Knowledge): The collective maintains an evolving structure of established behaviors.
- Bottom-right (Production – Embodied Execution): Individuals enact behaviors in real-world contexts, feeding back results.
- Meaning emerges through performance: The equilibrium between collective knowledge and real-world embodiment forms the process of adaptation and learning itself.
Together, these two diagonal loops create a self-referential, self-organizing process, where evolution and economy emerge naturally. The quadrants alone are static categories, but the diagonal feedback loops make them a dynamic system — they give life to the quadrants by defining how knowledge and agency interact to create meaning, coordination, and self-sustaining equilibrium.