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 active information. It is part of a system that uses the information encoded within it to synthesize protein.
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.
An electrical current moving from the retina to the brain is naturally-occurring, active 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. They give sight to an entity.
The information encoded in optic signals can be represented in various ways. But none of the representations will give sight to an entity.
Tree rings are not information. Although we know enough about how trees grow to deduce something about the amount of rainfall the tree experienced each year, its rings do not mean rainfall. Nor are they part of a system that causes rainfall.
Information processing is doing something with information.
A team of molecules uses the information in DNA to synthesize protein.
The information about the photons is used to choose a course of action.
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 active information. It is part of a system that uses the information encoded within it to synthesize protein.
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.
An electrical current moving from the retina to the brain is naturally-occurring, active 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. They give sight to an entity.
The information encoded in optic signals can be represented in various ways. But none of the representations will give sight to an entity.
Tree rings are not information. Although we know enough about how trees grow to deduce something about the amount of rainfall the tree experienced each year, its rings do not mean rainfall. Nor are they part of a system that causes rainfall.
Information processing is doing something with information.
A team of molecules uses the information in DNA to synthesize protein.
The information about the photons is used to choose a course of action.
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.