A metasystem transition is the emergence, through evolution, of a higher level of organization or control.
Prime examples are the origin of life, the transition from unicellular to multicellular organisms, the emergence of eusociality or symbolic thought. A metasystem is formed by the integration of a number of initially independent components, such as molecules, cells or individiduals, and the emergence of a system steering or controlling their interactions. As such, the collective of components becomes a new, goal-directed individual, capable of acting in a coordinated way. This metasystem is more complex, more intelligent, and more flexible in its actions than the initial component systems.
The concept of metasystem transition was introduced by the cybernetician Valentin Turchin in his 1977 book "The Phenomenon of Science", and developed among others by Francis Heylighen in the Principia Cybernetica Project. The related notion of evolutionary transition was proposed by the biologists John Maynard Smith and Eors Szathmary, in their 1995 book The Major Transitions in Evolution, and developed among others by Richard Michod. Another related idea, that systems ("operators") evolve to become more complex by successive closures encapsulating components in a larger whole, is proposed in "The operator theory", developed by Gerard Jagers op Akkerhuis.
Turchin has applied the concept of metasystem transition in the domain of computing, via the notion of metacompilation or supercompilation. A supercompiler is a compiler program that compiles its own code, thus increasing its own efficiency, producing a remarkable speedup in its execution.
The following is the classical sequence of metasystem transitions in the history of animal evolution according to Turchin, from the origin of animate life to sapient culture: