Gativus Genesis
The first book of the project. A general theory of life as a system of four bilateral transformations (GTR0–GTR3). Lays the foundation for all subsequent books.
Contents
Life as transformation GTR0
GNSS defines life not through a list of properties (sensitivity, metabolism, reproduction) but through structure: life is a system of bidirectional transformations between spaces of different ontological nature. GTR0 is the first and only fully material transformation, connecting three spaces: DOM0 (descriptions, analogous to DNA), DOM1 (functioning cells), and DOM2 (multicellular structures). The two steps of GTR0 — convolution (complete change of ontology between DOM0 and DOM1) and splice (extension of DOM1 to DOM2 through spatial connections) — are reversible and together form a closed cycle of life reproduction.
Transformation GTR2: Symbols and Narratives
The article explores the second informational transformation within the Gativus architecture—the GTR2 level—which represents a qualitative leap in the evolution of cognitive systems by detaching information from specific time and space constraints. Unlike the sensory-behavioral foundation of GTR1, this level introduces universal symbols (the DOM6 space) and logically linked knowledge triads compiled into narratives (the DOM7 space), enabling a transition from local multi-maps to a single unified global map for advanced planning and reasoning about absent concepts. The definitive feature of GTR2 is its bidirectionality: the system not only convolves behavioral experience into abstract definitions but also reconstructs them back into vivid spatio-temporal scenes using the mechanism of imagination, framed here through a Hegelian philosophical perspective. The authors present modern Large Language Models (LLMs) as the primary empirical validation of this theory, demonstrating that they function as an isolated implementation of the GTR2 layer, and outline the project’s ultimate engineering goal as expanding these symbolic engines with lower sensory-behavioral and higher volitional layers to build a fully functional artificial consciousness.
Transformation GTR3: Concepts(Begriff), Contradictions, Will
At the GTR3 level, stable value invariants — Concepts (Begriff) — are formed from narratives, and contradictions arise between them. The resolution of these contradictions through conscious choice is an act of will. GTR3 completes the full circle of four transformations, allowing the subject to unfold a decision from the axiological level through all lower levels down to real change in the world. Only humans possess the full bidirectionality of GTR3, forming personality as a sequence of resolved contradictions. This is where genuine freedom of choice and responsibility emerge, distinguishing humans from all other beings.
Transformation GTR1: From Cells to Behavior
The chapter describes the GTR1 transformation — an evolutionary shift from the purely material level of GTR0 (where everything is predetermined by the genetic code) to the level where animals with locomotion acquire informational spaces (DOM3, DOM4, DOM5). The key property of GTR1 is dual-ontologicality: informational structures (spatial maps, objects, actions) exist simultaneously as ideal content (experience) and as specialized material tissue (neurons), which makes it possible to address the nature of consciousness without dualism.
Emergent Domains: Mathematics of Distributed Consensus and the Dynamics of Subjectivity
The chapter describes the transition to emergent domains in the Gativus architecture — the blue plane where entities such as the swarm (DOME), language (DOMS), narratives (DOMN), concepts (DOMC), and contradictions (DOMW) have no physical substrate of their own but exist as a mathematical intersection and synchronization of the group's individual maps. Information exchange is provided through broadcast and listen connectors in the individual plane, and the emergent map is continuously computed by each participant. The direction of flows changes from level to level: DOME synchronizes bottom-up (swarm behavior as a derivative of individual movements), DOMS synchronizes top-down (language is imposed on the individual by the cultural seed), while DOMC and DOMW introduce the mechanism of contradiction as fuel for will, allowing the system to reshape the environment not only for survival but also to resolve the discrepancy between "what is" and "what ought to be."