The Becoming of Possibility

Introduction

What does it mean for something to be possible — and how do possibilities become actual, individuated, and meaningful? The Becoming of Possibility explores this question through the lens of relational ontology, revealing how potential unfolds, differentiates, and recursively shapes the fields in which it exists.

Across the project’s series — from physical systems to biological life, neural ensembles, and social collectives — we examine:

• Physical Potential: Spacetime, quantum fields, and the constraints and alignments that allow events and patterns to emerge.

• Biological Potential: Genomic, developmental, and ecological landscapes that enable cells, organisms, and species to differentiate and stabilise.

• Neuronal Potential: Neural ensembles and networks, where activation and individuation generate cognition, perception, and semiotic-functional structures.

• Social-Semiotic Potential: Individuals and collectives co-actualising norms, roles, actions, and symbolic practices, recursively shaping social fields and possibilities.

The project emphasises actualisation (instantiation) and individuation as universal relational mechanisms that structure reality across scales. Each instance — whether a particle, a cell, a neural ensemble, or a social practice — both reflects and reshapes potential, generating novelty, alignment, and emergent meaning.

The Becoming of Possibility invites readers to trace the relational continuum of potential, revealing how life, mind, and society unfold not as isolated entities, but as dynamically co-actualising, co-individuating fields of possibility. 

Meta-Schema: Relational Actualisation Across Life, Mind, and Society

1. Core Principle

Across domains — biological, neural, and social — potential exists as structured relational possibility. Actualisation (instantiation) and individuation are the mechanisms by which potential is differentiated, stabilised, and recursively propagated, producing emergent patterns, meaning, and systemic alignment.

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2. Domains and Series

Domain	Series	Potential	Instance	Individuation	Consequences / Recursive Effects
Biological	Biological Potential	Genomic, epigenetic, developmental, ecological potentials	Cells, tissues, organs, organisms	Differentiation into distinct entities	Novelty, constraint propagation, semiotic-functional structuring, recursive shaping of potential
Neural	Neuronal Potential	Genetic, developmental, synaptic potentials	Neuronal ensembles (instantial patterns)	Functional differentiation of ensembles	Functional novelty, biasing future activations, semiotic-functional embedding, recursive network shaping
Social	Social-Semiotic Potential	Norms, roles, symbolic resources, relational networks	Actions, roles, practices, institutions	Differentiated actors, subgroups, collective structures	Novelty, constraint propagation, recursive shaping of potential, semiotic-functional alignment, emergent collective meaning

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3. Relational Logic Across Scales

1. Preconditions: Structured potential, relational frames, constraints, and stability scaffolds exist at all levels, shaping which instances can emerge.

2. Actualisation / Instantiation: Potential expresses as instantial events, which differentiate the system and structure future possibilities.

3. Individuation: Instances stabilise as distinguishable units, recursively constraining and enabling further actualisations.

4. Recursive Propagation: Each instance modifies the relational field, generating novelty and enabling further emergence.

5. Semiotic Integration: Differentiated instances carry relational and semiotic meaning, structuring interactions and system dynamics.

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4. Conceptual Takeaways

• Actualisation and individuation form a general relational mechanism, instantiated across life, mind, and society.

• Complex systems, from organisms to brains to collectives, exemplify the recursive interplay of potential and instance, where each emergent entity shapes what can emerge next.

• The continuum from cells → neuronal ensembles → social actors demonstrates that emergence, differentiation, and semiotic-functional structuring are relational at every scale, producing novelty, alignment, and adaptive potential.

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The Becoming of Possibility — A Unified Framework

1. Core Idea

Possibility is not abstract or external; it is structured, relational, and semiotic. Across domains — physical, biological, neural, and social — potentials exist as fields of structured possibility, and actualisation (instantiation) and individuation are the mechanisms through which these potentials are differentiated, stabilised, and recursively propagated.

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2. Relational Continuum of Potential

Possibility unfolds along a continuum of relational complexity:

Domain	Series	Potential	Instance	Individuation	Recursive & Semiotic Consequences
Physical	Relativity & Quantum Mechanics	Spacetime, quantum fields	Events, particles, wavefunctions	Emergent patterns	Constraints on causality, propagation of systemic possibilities, new relational alignments
Biological	Biological Potential	Genomic, epigenetic, developmental potentials	Cells, tissues, organisms	Differentiation into distinct entities	Novelty, constraint propagation, semiotic-functional structuring, recursive shaping of potential
Neural	Neuronal Potential	Genetic, developmental, synaptic potentials	Neuronal ensembles (instantial patterns)	Functional differentiation of ensembles	Functional novelty, biasing future activations, semiotic-functional embedding, recursive network shaping
Social	Social-Semiotic Potential	Norms, roles, symbolic resources, relational networks	Actions, roles, practices, institutions	Differentiated actors, subgroups, collective structures	Novelty, constraint propagation, recursive shaping of potential, semiotic-functional alignment, emergent collective meaning

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3. Core Dynamics Across Domains

1. Preconditions: Each domain provides structured potential, constraints, and stability scaffolds.

2. Actualisation / Instantiation: Potential is expressed as instantial events or instances.

3. Individuation: Instances differentiate, stabilise, and become functional units within their field.

4. Recursive Propagation: Each instance reshapes the potential field, producing further possibilities.

5. Semiotic-Functional Embedding: Differentiated instances carry meaning, structure interactions, and enable systemic coherence and novelty.

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4. Relational Synthesis

• Potential is always relational, not intrinsic to any single entity.

• Actualisation and individuation are mechanisms of becoming, revealing and structuring what is possible.

• Emergence, differentiation, and semiotic-functional alignment cascade across scales, from fundamental physics to life, mind, and social systems.

• The recursive interplay of potential and instance generates novelty, alignment, and adaptive possibility, constituting the ongoing becoming of reality itself.

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5. Implications

• The framework unifies diverse domains under a single relational-ontology lens, showing that all forms of possibility are structured, instantiated, and individuated relationally.

• It provides a theoretical scaffolding for understanding emergence, complexity, and semiotic-functional dynamics across life, cognition, and sociality.

• This meta-perspective positions each series — Physical, Biological, Neural, and Social — as instances of the same fundamental relational process, the becoming of possibility itself.