Recombinational Emergent Dynamics (RED): An Architectural Meta-Model of Life, Consciousness, Meaning, and Artificial Intelligence

Recombinational Emergent Dynamics (RED) is an architectural meta-model de
scribing the emergence of life, consciousness, meaning, and intelligent systems as
consequences of a single underlying dynamic: hereditary recombination operating
under selection and constraint. The model is neither an empirical scientific theory
nor a fundamental ontology, but a formal conceptual framework for integrating and
comparing biological, psychological, cultural, and artificial intelligence systems at
the level of their regulatory dynamics.
REDintroduces an operational definition of life as an open recombinational loop

θ → x→C →P →θ′

, in which heritable parameter variations influence system
trajectories and are subject to selection. Consciousness is formalized as a global
integration architecture, represented by an operator Φ that generates a transient,
integrated control state q(t). Meaning is defined as a stable attractor of trajectories
over long temporal horizons, rather than as an ontological property of the world.
The RED framework explicitly distinguishes intelligence, consciousness, phe
nomenology, and meaning, treating them as emergent properties of adaptive regu
latory architectures. The model is scalable across domains, ranging from biological
systems through the human mind and cultural structures to artificial intelligence,
which in this view constitutes a non-biological implementation of the same under
lying dynamics. This preprint presents the epistemic status of the model, its con
ceptual core, and a minimal dynamic formalism, providing a foundation for further
theoretical analysis and applied extensions