co-becoming

Compiled with AI assistance and selectively reviewed. Please consult the cited passages; the books remain the authoritative source. About this companion

Editorial synthesis · provisional

Definition

Co-becoming is the formation and transformation of beings through relational fields and milieus, rather than the independent development of self-sufficient units later connected from outside. RB2 develops it through organisms and ecosystems, while RB3 names relation as its ontological field. The proposal preserves local integrity and differentiated roles without implying fusion, universal harmony or equal causal contribution from every participant.

Explanation

The organism remains real yet dependent on wider circuitry; the ecosystem remains real yet dynamic. A reef, gut or forest floor holds through partial coordination among processes with different roles. Co-becoming therefore does not erase the distinction between an organism and all its surroundings or install one collective mind directing their activity.

RB2’s Law 5 table makes individuation occur within fields and milieus, and RB3 gives relation the primary field role rather than treating it as a third coequal ingredient beside energy and information. The proposal retains that ontology’s internal ordering without turning the relational field into a hidden substance behind individuals.

AB and RB1 insist that cross-domain patterns have different mechanisms. RB2 also says what ought to be sustained requires additional evaluative premises. Thus co-becoming describes constitutive relations without certifying their goodness, making every dependency reciprocal in benefit or treating relational connection alone as a complete ethical decision.

Scope and attribution

Keep real participants, partial coordination and normative underdetermination.

RB2 — The Real Book, Volume II: Becoming Is Being

Organismic and ecological formation preserve local integrity within differentiated support.

Occurrence locators: 202, 206, 207, 298.

RB3 — The Real Book, Volume III: Murmurations

Relation is the field of individuation rather than a hidden additional substance.

Occurrence locators: 5, 33, 104, 111, 119, 134, 329.

Background used in the editorial explanation

Constitutive co-becoming is distinguished from generic selection comparisons and normative caution alone.