metaevolution

Noun

metaevolution (usually uncountable, plural metaevolutions)

1. (usually) The evolution of the elements of evolutionary systems. Applying evolutionary concepts to non-living systems. Applying evolutionary concepts to individual learning and personal development. Examining the implications and past and future developments of evolution.
   • More recently, however, it has become increasingly realized that symbiosis is at the core of the evolution of evolutionary levels and mechanisms—of a metaevolution—in the microevolution of life.1980, Erich Jantsch, “Ethics and Evolution”, in The North American Review, volume 265, number 3, page 16
   • The notion of event is also associated with that of metaevolution in biology (the evolution of the evolutionary processes themselves).2004, Elías Palti, “The ‘Return of the Subject’ as a Historico-Intellectual Problem”, in History and Theory, vol. 43, no. 1, p. 76, note 53