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. Amino acids and proteins are not nucleotides running along sugar phosphate backbones, and joined by hydrogen bonds.
DNA is what I call self-processing information. In its natural state, in its natural environment, self-processing information is part of a system that, through nothing but the laws of physics, processes the information. In the case of DNA, protein is synthesized.
An electrical current moving from the retina to the brain is information. The current is ions and molecules being released by chains of neurons. The current means characteristics of the photons, individually and in groups, as they hit the retina. This is another example of self-processing information. The information is processed, and the entity sees.
What about tree rings? Tree rings don't mean anything. They don't even mean tree rings. They just are tree rings. And they are not part of a system that processes any information.
And yet, if we want to, we can gain knowledge from tree rings. Because, while they don't mean years or amounts of rainfall, their structure is determined by years and rainfall. Therefore, they contain information about years and amounts of rainfall. In this case, information is consistent, predictable effects.
Now I have two types of information.
1. Information is something that means something else.
2. Information is consistent, predictable effects.
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 DNA can contain exactly the same information as in a DNA molecule in a living cell. But it is not self-processing 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. Amino acids and proteins are not nucleotides running along sugar phosphate backbones, and joined by hydrogen bonds.
DNA is what I call self-processing information. In its natural state, in its natural environment, self-processing information is part of a system that, through nothing but the laws of physics, processes the information. In the case of DNA, protein is synthesized.
An electrical current moving from the retina to the brain is information. The current is ions and molecules being released by chains of neurons. The current means characteristics of the photons, individually and in groups, as they hit the retina. This is another example of self-processing information. The information is processed, and the entity sees.
What about tree rings? Tree rings don't mean anything. They don't even mean tree rings. They just are tree rings. And they are not part of a system that processes any information.
And yet, if we want to, we can gain knowledge from tree rings. Because, while they don't mean years or amounts of rainfall, their structure is determined by years and rainfall. Therefore, they contain information about years and amounts of rainfall. In this case, information is consistent, predictable effects.
Now I have two types of information.
1. Information is something that means something else.
2. Information is consistent, predictable effects.
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 DNA can contain exactly the same information as in a DNA molecule in a living cell. But it is not self-processing 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.