In APS, semiosis is not primarily abstract symbol manipulation or detached representation.
Semiosis is the operational process through which signs acquire biological significance by modulating activity relative to viability.
A sign becomes biologically meaningful when it influences evaluation, regulation, or activity within living organisation.
Semiosis is therefore grounded in the practical organisation of life rather than in representation alone.
Signs matter biologically because living systems differentiate and respond to conditions that bear upon their continued functioning. Meaning emerges through this evaluative and regulatory organisation.
APS thus interprets semiosis as operationally embedded within viability-oriented, constraint-closed organisation and the activities through which organised persistence is maintained.