0.4 — Spark: The Self-Aware Rhythm

Some rhythms only hold their form.
Others can change it.

The Spark is the point where rhythm turns inward —
a coherent pattern that can measure itself,
compare its state to what it was,
and adjust to preserve or improve.

Definition
In RRM, the Spark is a self-referential rhythm —
one whose structure contains a feedback loop.
This is not mystical.
It is the capacity of a pattern to sense its own coherence
and act to maintain or alter it in response to what it encounters.

Properties

• Self-referential — carries an internal model of its own state.

• Adaptive — adjusts coherence or closure under external influence.

• Persistent — maintains identity through disturbance.

• Interactive — can alter other rhythms by design, not just by contact.

Significance in RRM
The Spark is the threshold between passive and active persistence.
It is the root of agency in rhythmic systems.
Multiple Sparks can coordinate into larger, more complex self-aware structures.

Distinction from Consciousness
Every conscious system has Sparks,
but not every Spark is conscious in the human sense.
Consciousness is many layers of Spark-level processes working together.
The Spark is the simplest form —
self-referential coherence without the higher structures built on top.

Role in the Model
The Spark connects physics to biology in RRM.
It shows how the same principles that stabilize a particle
can also create a system capable of adaptation.

In knowing its own state,
A rhythm changes what it can be.