  In previous work I proposed a framework for thinking about open-ended
evolution. The framework characterised the basic processes required for
Darwinian evolution as: (1) the generation of a phenotype from a genetic
description; (2) the evaluation of that phenotype; and (3) the reproduction
with variation of successful genotype-phenotypes. My treatment emphasized the
potential influence of the biotic and abiotic environment, and of the laws of
physics/chemistry, on each of these processes. I demonstrated the conditions
under which these processes can allow for ongoing exploration of a space of
possible phenotypes (which I labelled exploratory open-endedness). However,
these processes by themselves cannot expand the space of possible phenotypes
and therefore cannot account for the more interesting and unexpected kinds of
evolutionary innovation (such as those I labelled expansive and
transformational open-endedness). In the previous work I looked at ways in
which expansive and transformational innovations could arise. I proposed
transdomain bridges and non-additive compositional systems as two mechanisms by
which these kinds of innovations could arise. In the current paper I wish to
generalise and expand upon these two concepts. I do this by adopting the
Parameter Space-Organisation Space-Action Space (POA) perspective, as suggested
at in my previous work, and proposing that all evolutionary innovations can be
viewed as either capturing some novel physical phenomena that had previously
been unused, or as the creation of new persistent systems within the
environment.
