02: INFORMATION
Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2025 1:47 pm
Information is something that means something else. Something that it is not.
A mountain doesn't mean something it is not. A mountain doesn't even mean a mountain. It simply is a mountain. Water flowing over a cliff doesn't mean anything it is not. It doesn't even mean water flowing over a cliff. It simply is water flowing over a cliff.
DNA is information. DNA is two complimentary strands of nucleotides running along sugar phosphate backbones, and joined by hydrogen bonds. DNA means chains of amino acids and proteins.
In its natural form, DNA is what I call self-processing information. It is part of a system that uses the information encoded within it to synthesize protein.
An electrical current moving from the retina to the brain is another example of self-processing information. The current is a series of ions being released by a chain of cells. The current means features like edges, contrast, color, and motion. The information is processed, and an entity gains sight.
What about tree rings? Tree rings don't mean years, or amounts of rainfall. They are not part of a system that processes information in any way, for any purpose.
And yet, if we want to, we can gain knowledge from tree rings. We know enough about how trees grow to deduce something about their age, and the amount of rainfall they experienced each year, by examining their rings. And you can't gain knowledge without information. So either my original definition - Information is something that means something else. Something that it is not. - is wrong, or the rings do mean something they are not.
I don't think tree rings mean anything, so I think the problem is my definition. Protein synthesis and vision are examples of things that mean other things. But maybe information comes in more than one form. Maybe not all information is something that means something else. Maybe there definition is more broad. Maybe information can be something that
The information encoded in DNA can be written on paper or computer files, modeled using tinker toys, or represented in other ways. These human-made representations of the information encoded in DNA are passive information. These representations mean the information encoded in DNA. They do not mean chains of amino acids and proteins. They are not DNA. They cannot do anything. They cannot be part of the system that synthesizes protein.
The information encoded in optic signals can be represented in various ways. But none of the representations will give sight to an entity.
Processing information unifies consciousness. When a conglomerate of particles acts together as a unit to process information, it is also conscious as a unit. Information, like consciousness, is non-physical. Therefore, consciousness responds to it in ways it cannot respond to the physical.
A mountain doesn't mean something it is not. A mountain doesn't even mean a mountain. It simply is a mountain. Water flowing over a cliff doesn't mean anything it is not. It doesn't even mean water flowing over a cliff. It simply is water flowing over a cliff.
DNA is information. DNA is two complimentary strands of nucleotides running along sugar phosphate backbones, and joined by hydrogen bonds. DNA means chains of amino acids and proteins.
In its natural form, DNA is what I call self-processing information. It is part of a system that uses the information encoded within it to synthesize protein.
An electrical current moving from the retina to the brain is another example of self-processing information. The current is a series of ions being released by a chain of cells. The current means features like edges, contrast, color, and motion. The information is processed, and an entity gains sight.
What about tree rings? Tree rings don't mean years, or amounts of rainfall. They are not part of a system that processes information in any way, for any purpose.
And yet, if we want to, we can gain knowledge from tree rings. We know enough about how trees grow to deduce something about their age, and the amount of rainfall they experienced each year, by examining their rings. And you can't gain knowledge without information. So either my original definition - Information is something that means something else. Something that it is not. - is wrong, or the rings do mean something they are not.
I don't think tree rings mean anything, so I think the problem is my definition. Protein synthesis and vision are examples of things that mean other things. But maybe information comes in more than one form. Maybe not all information is something that means something else. Maybe there definition is more broad. Maybe information can be something that
The information encoded in DNA can be written on paper or computer files, modeled using tinker toys, or represented in other ways. These human-made representations of the information encoded in DNA are passive information. These representations mean the information encoded in DNA. They do not mean chains of amino acids and proteins. They are not DNA. They cannot do anything. They cannot be part of the system that synthesizes protein.
The information encoded in optic signals can be represented in various ways. But none of the representations will give sight to an entity.
Processing information unifies consciousness. When a conglomerate of particles acts together as a unit to process information, it is also conscious as a unit. Information, like consciousness, is non-physical. Therefore, consciousness responds to it in ways it cannot respond to the physical.