Conventional framing
Natural selection is typically understood as a primary evolutionary mechanism acting on heritable variation, often formalised as changes in gene frequencies within populations.
APS reframing
APS repositions natural selection as a derivative process that operates only within systems already capable of sustaining viability-oriented organisation. Selection does not generate biological organisation but filters among existing forms of organised persistence. What is selected is not traits or genes in isolation, but the capacity of whole systems to maintain viability under given conditions.
Key Point
Natural selection in APS is conditional—it operates only within systems capable of sustaining organised persistence and therefore presupposes biological agency.