Evolution as a Transformation in the Relational Space of Biological Potential

When we say that evolution is a transformation in the relational space of biological potential, we are reimagining evolutionary change not as the movement or mutation of physical units (like discrete genes), but as a systemic shift in the structure of possibilities that life can take.

In this view, biological potential is the structured space of possibilities for life forms within a given species. It is not a random or unbounded set, but an organised potential constrained by the biochemical, developmental, and evolutionary history of the lineage. This potential includes the combinations of genes and regulatory mechanisms that can be instantiated as viable organisms.

The relational space is the system of dependencies and correlations within that potential—how certain gene combinations tend to co-occur, how particular developmental pathways constrain others, and how traits emerge as composites of many interacting factors. It is not a flat space but a highly contoured one, shaped by the relationships among genes, their expressions, and the organism’s interaction with its environment.

Now, when selection acts, it doesn’t simply eliminate “bad” organisms and preserve “good” ones. It shifts the probabilities of which parts of the species potential are more likely to be instantiated in future generations. Over time, this process changes the shape of the relational space itself. Some regions of the space become densely populated—frequent instantiations of certain configurations—while others become sparse or inaccessible.

So rather than seeing evolution as a series of outcomes (this creature survived, that one didn’t), we see it as a transformation of the structure of the possible. The relational space of biological potential becomes reweighted and reshaped, like a landscape whose contours are eroded and reformed by the ongoing pressures of environmental interaction and selective feedback.

In this way, evolution is not just about lineage or descent; it is about the dynamic reorganisation of what is possible. The actualised forms (phenotypes) feed back into the system, reshaping the contours of potential that determine what can be actualised next. Evolution is thus a process of learning at the level of the species: a recursive adaptation of potential through selective instantiation and realisation.