CTT and Evolution
Evolution is typically understood as the gradual change of biological populations across generations through variation, selection, and inheritance. This account is extremely successful at explaining the diversity and complexity of life. CTT does not alter any of these biological mechanisms — but it offers a deeper metaphysical context that clarifies why evolution works and how complexity emerges in a renewing universe.
In CTT, evolution is the natural consequence of renewal interacting with structure, stability, and variation. It is life’s way of participating in the same fundamental principles that shape the rest of the cosmos.
Renewal Creates Opportunity for Change
Renewal is the continual re-instantiation of the universe. Each renewal is almost identical to the last, yet not perfectly so. At the fundamental level:
quantum fluctuations introduce microscopic variability,
stochastic processes generate diversity,
no renewed state is a mathematically perfect replica of the previous one.
This creates a built-in openness in the fabric of reality: renewal is not rigid repetition; it is continuity with room for variation.
Biological evolution uses that room.
Θ_S as the Preserver of Life’s Patterns
Living organisms are patterns encoded in Θ_S:
DNA sequences,
protein structures,
cellular architectures,
neural configurations.
These patterns persist across renewal because they exhibit stability. Renewed moment after moment, they maintain form, function, and coherence long enough to develop, adapt, and reproduce.
Just as the universe preserves stable cosmic structures — stars, atoms, galaxies — it preserves stable biological structures that can withstand the constant recreation of reality.
Natural Selection as Structural Stability
Natural selection aligns elegantly with CTT’s fundamental dynamics:
Patterns that endure across renewal survive.
Patterns that cannot endure dissolve.
Biological fitness is simply structural stability expressed at the level of living systems.
In other words:
Evolution favours structures that remain coherent across renewal.
Organisms that maintain functionality through continuous reinstantiation thrive; those that produce unstable configurations do not.
Variation as the Creative Edge of Renewal
Mutation, genetic recombination, and developmental diversity introduce new structural patterns into Θ_S. Most of these patterns fail to achieve stability across renewal; some, however, form coherent structures that persist and reproduce.
This mirrors a universal principle:
Renewal generates novelty.
Structure filters that novelty.
Stability determines what endures.
Evolution is the biological expression of this cosmic process.
Consciousness and the Evolution of Memory
As organisms became more complex, their ability to store information across renewal cycles increased. Nervous systems emerged as adaptive structures that retained patterns — memories — enabling organisms to respond to their environment in increasingly sophisticated ways.
In CTT terms:
memory is present structure shaped by past renewals,
consciousness is the experience of renewal within a structured system,
and intelligence is the refinement of these structures across evolutionary time.
Evolution does not merely produce bodies; it produces stable patterns capable of interpreting renewal.
Human Evolution and the Deepening of Temporal Awareness
Humans are unique in the extent to which we:
project into the possible future,
reflect on the recorded past,
encode knowledge in external structures (writing, culture, technology),
and intentionally reshape Θ_S through deliberate action.
Evolution reached a stage where a structure (the human brain) became capable of understanding the renewing nature of existence itself.
This is not incidental. It is an advanced form of pattern stability across renewal.
Evolution Within a Renewing Universe
When viewed through the lens of CTT:
Evolution is not a standalone process.
It is the biological manifestation of the same principles that govern cosmic structure.
Renewal creates the conditions for variation.
Structure filters and preserves what can persist across renewal.
Complexity arises from the interplay between stability and novelty.
Life evolves because the universe itself evolves, moment by moment, through the dynamics of renewal and structure.
A Unified Metaphysical View of Biology
CTT provides a conceptual foundation beneath standard evolutionary theory:
Renewal explains why change is possible.
Structure (Θ_S) explains why persistence is possible.
Selection explains why only some patterns endure across renewal.
Memory explains how organisms accumulate information in the present.
Consciousness explains how organisms experience the unfolding of renewal.
Evolution is therefore:
The long-term refinement of patterns in Θ_S within a renewing temporal field.
It is life’s way of exploring what can remain stable while continually being recreated.