In APS, semiosis is not primarily abstract symbol manipulation or detached representation.
Semiosis is the operational process through which organisms use signs to guide action relative to viability.
A sign becomes biologically meaningful when it influences evaluation, regulation or behaviour within a continuity-preserving system.
Semiosis is therefore grounded in the practical organisation of life.
Signs matter because organisms must continuously detect, interpret and respond to conditions affecting persistence. Meaning emerges from this evaluative and regulatory activity.
APS thus interprets semiosis as operationally embedded within viability-oriented organised persistence.