From Survival Selection to the Persistence Function: Life Structures Across Civilizational Stages and the Problem of the "I"

Starting from an ordered world and survival selection, this paper traces the evolutionary trajectory of life from reproduction, reaction, desire, cognition, personality, cooperation, and learning to writing. It argues that civilization is not a natural extension of biological evolution, but a structural system built upon biological instincts that are no longer well adapted. With the emergence of civilization, survival selection ceases to function as the primary selection mechanism; civilization shifts from a “selection function” to a “persistence function.” Accordingly, the core tension of civilization transforms into two types: the tension between biological instincts and civilizational structures (desire versus reason), and the tension between the individual and society. Within this structure, the “I” is no longer defined through elimination, but through self-description, maintaining continuous existence between these two tensions, thereby affirming the meaning of its existence and actions.