# Coevolution **Domain:** Evolution / Reciprocal Systems / Human-Machine Relations **Doc Type:** Canonical Concept Node **Maturity:** Foundational ## Definition **Coevolution** is evolutionary change produced by reciprocal selective influence among interacting lineages. Each lineage alters the environment in which variants of the other survive or reproduce. ## Human-Machine Context [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] proposes coevolution as the governing frame for human-machine relations. Humans construct models, data regimes and interfaces; those systems then restructure attention, labor, memory and institutional selection. The next human design decision occurs inside an environment partly produced by earlier machines. The term must not erase asymmetry. Human beings and machine systems currently differ in embodiment, legal standing, reproduction and dependence. Reciprocal influence can coexist with ownership, coercion and concentrated platform power. ## Continuity Context Substrate transition becomes coevolutionary when the receiving substrate changes the subject and the subject changes the architecture that receives it. A continuity system is therefore not a neutral container but a participant in the continuant's development. ## Key Insight **The machine is not merely an external tool once it becomes part of the selection environment through which human cognition and institutions reproduce.** ## Sources / Provenance - Ehrlich and Raven, “Butterflies and Plants: A Study in Coevolution,” 1964. - Nexus synthesis: [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]]. ## See Also [[wiki/Human-Machine Symbiosis|Human-Machine Symbiosis]], [[wiki/Niche Construction|Niche Construction]], [[wiki/Cultural Transmission|Cultural Transmission]], [[wiki/Co-Creative Substrate|Co-Creative Substrate]]