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A Sourcebook for the Worldwide Discovery of a Creative Organic Universe
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III. Ecosmos: A Revolutionary Fertile, Habitable, Solar-Bioplanet, Incubator Lifescape

C. The Information Computation Turn

Hofkirchner, Wolfgang. Twenty Questions about a Unified Theory of Information: A Short Exploration into Information from a Complex Systems View. Litchfield Park, AZ: ICSE Publications, 2010. Incipient efforts around the world are trying to better approach and comprehend this apparent software-like, content-rich quality, so as to include it as a prime creative agency, along with matter and energy. Prepared at the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute in Barcelona, this essay was meant as a working guide for a “Towards a New Science of Information” held in Beijing, August 2010. But the broader effort seems to remain fixated in its machine mindset, getting closer, yet stymied from realizing that what everyone is trying to explain is a “cosmic genetic code.”

Q8. Is information possible in a mechanistic universe? Q9. What Can We Learn From the New Paradigm of Complexity Q17. What are the physico-chemical origins of cognition, communication and cooperation? Q20. Why do we need collective intelligence on a planetary scale?

With the transition form Systems Theory I to systems Theory II, as with the change from Cybernetics I to Cybernetics II and the increased slope of the theory of Evolution which overcomes the restrictions of the Darwinian model, we can see a theory of open, non-linear, complex, dynamic, self-organizing (in short: evolutionary) systems approaching. This theory no longer deals merely with mechanism, strategies and controls for achieving/maintaining homeostasis and the development of species. It concerns the rise and fall of real-world systems. The concepts of dissipative structures, synergetics, hyper-cycles, autopoesis and self-referentiality are the most prominent predecessors of a theory of evolutionary systems (53-54)

Actually, with the paradigm shift from the mechanistic worldview, that knows only objects towards a more inclusive view of a less-than- strict, emergent, and even creative universe inhabited by subjects too, we have got everything required to connect the notion of information to the idea of self-organization. (61).

Hofkirchner, Wolfgang, et al. Towards a New Science of Information. TripleC. 9/2, 2011. In this online journal of “Cognition, Communication, Cooperation,” an Introduction with Zong-Rong Li, Pedro Marijuan, and Kang Ouyang to the Proceedings of an International Conference on the Foundations of Information Science, held in Beijing, August 2010. The import of the 29 papers posted across every aspect from autopoiesis and bacilli to social informatics is a realization, after centuries of matter and energy, that natural reality is most distinguished by staying on its innate procreative message.

Hogan, Craig. Information from the Beginning. Sanchez, Norma and Yuri Parijskij, eds. The Early Universe and the Cosmic Microwave Background. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic, 2003. The quantum-gravity discreteness of the initial background radiation of a holographic cosmos can illuminate its informational properties.

To put the same point more poetically: when the letters of the writing on the sky are known, the pattern will no longer appear as a meaningless jumble of random noise, and the significance of the whole pattern will be interpreted completely and transparently in terms of these letters – the eigenmodes of the inflationary system in fundamental theory….All we have done here is estimate how many letters there are. (45)

Horsman, Dominic, et al. Abstraction and Representation in Living Organisms: When does a Biological System Compute? Dodig-Crnkovic, Gordana and Raffaela Giovagnoli, e. Representation and Reality in Humans, Other Living Organisms and Intelligent Machines. International: Springer, 2012. Within this endeavor to comprehend a greater nature which seems to run and evolve via generative algorithmic programs, a chapter by the computer scientist team of Horsman and Vivien Kendon, University of Durham, along with Susan Stepney and J. P. W. Young, University of York, UK traces an iterative course by way of abstract information as it is manifestly represented. Photosynthesis, the process by which flora and fauna convert sunlight into chemical energy, is given as an example. They then conclude with allusions to a cosmos to consciousness evolutionary pathway of progressive self-representation. See by the authors When does a Physical System Compute? at arXiv:1309.7979 for a technical basis and The Natural Science of Computing in ACM Communications (August 2017) for a popular review.

Even the simplest known living organisms are complex chemical processing systems. But how sophisticated is the behaviour that arises from this? We present a framework in which even bacteria can be identified as capable of representing information in arbitrary signal molecules, to facilitate altering their behaviour to optimise their food supplies, for example. Known as Abstraction/Representation theory (AR theory), this framework makes precise the relationship between physical systems and abstract concepts. Originally developed to answer the question of when a physical system is computing, AR theory naturally extends to the realm of biological systems to bring clarity to questions of computation at the cellular level. (Abstract)

Horsman, Dominic, et al. The Natural Science of Computing. Communications of the ACM. August, 2017. As the lengthy editorial summary next conveys, computer scientists Horsman and Vivien Kendon, University of Durham, and Susan Stepney, University of York, UK offer that our pervasive 21st century computational abilities has revolutionary implications as it empowers studies such as the recent astronomical discovery of gravity waves, along with everywhere else from quantum to social realms.

Technology changes science. In 2016, the scientific community thrilled to news that the LIGO collaboration had detected gravitational waves for the first time. LIGO is the latest in a long line of revolutionary technologies in astronomy, from the ability to 'see' the universe from radio waves to gamma rays, or from detecting cosmic rays and neutrinos. The interplay of technological and fundamental theoretical advance is replicated across all the natural sciences—which include, we argue, computer science. Some early computing models were developed as abstract models of existing physical computing systems. Now, as novel computing devices—from quantum computers to DNA processors, and even vast networks of human 'social machines'—reach a critical stage of development, they reveal how computing technologies can drive the expansion of theoretical tools and models of computing.

Non-standard and unconventional computing technologies have come to prominence as Moore's Law, that previously relentless increase in computing power, runs out. While techniques such as multicore and parallel processing allow for some gains without further increase of transistor density, there is a growing consensus that the next big step will come from technologies outside the framework of silicon hardware and binary logic. Quantum computing is now being developed on an international scale, with active research and use from Google and NASA as well as numerous universities and national laboratories. Biological computing is also being developed, from data encoding and processing in DNA molecules, to neuro-silicon hybrid devices and bio-inspired neural networks, to harnessing the behavior of slime molds. The huge advance of the internet has enabled 'social machines'—Galaxy Zoo, protein FoldIt, Wikipedia, innumerable citizen science tools—all working by networking humans and computers, to perform computations not accessible on current silicon-based technology alone. (Editorial summary)

Igamberdiev, Abir. Semiokinesis - Semiotic Autopoiesis of the Universe. Semiotica. 135/1-4, 2001. A fractal universe proceeds in its organic development by means of a recursive “self-representation of its Logos.” Life generates and organizes itself through open, nonequilibrium systems characterized by internal semiotic definitions. This affirms an emergent Platonic, textual reality which awaits our collective recognition.

The Universe is a semiotic connection of the infinity of Logos (Word) and the finiteness of its representation in the spatial-temporal structure of Cosmos (World). (20)

Jaeger, Gregg. Information and the Reconstruction of Quantum Physics. Annalen der Physik. 531/3, 2019. In a lead paper for a Physics of Information issue, the Boston University physicist philosopher first reviews precursor efforts by John Bell, Anton Zellinger, Jeffrey Bub, Carlo Rovelli onto Lucien Hardy, Giulio Chiribella, and others. Into the 21st century an informational component has conceptually become a prime, definitive quality. This expansive advance is then seen to augur for a wider synthesis toward a truly cosmic narrative reality.

The reconstruction of quantum physics has been connected with the interpretation of the quantum formalism, and by a deeper consideration of the relation of information to quantum states and processes. This recent form of reconstruction has provided new perspectives on physical correlations and entanglement that can be used to encode information. Here, a representative series of specifically information‐based treatments from partial reconstructions that make connections with information to rigorous axiomatizations, including those involving the theories of generalized probability and abstract systems is reviewed. (Abstract excerpt)

The reconstruction of quantum mechanics has historically been intertwined with the interpretation of the quantum formalism and, more recently, with the relation of information to quantum state transformation. Given that quantum mechanics, like information theory, involves probability at a fundamental level, it is to be expected that the two can be related. The deeper exploration of the connection of quantum mechanics to information has led to the idea of reconstructing not only quantum mechanics and quantum field theory but to the seeking of connections with space–time theory in a more general sort of quantum theory based specifically on informational principles rather than more obviously physical principles known from previous forms of physics. (1)

Ji, Sungchul. Language as a Model of Biocomplexity. International Conference on Complex Systems. May 23, 2000. In a paper presented at this conference, a cell biologist at Rutgers University describes a hierarchy of biological complexity where each level from biopolymers to societies and the biosphere is most defined by linguistic properties.

Johannsen, Wolfgang. On Semantic Information in Nature. Information. Online July, 2015. A Frankfurt School of Finance & Management theorist, by virtue of joining salient themes such as John Wheeler’s participatory ‘It from Bit,’ a semiotic, linguistic recurrence from universe to us, and an energetic, thermodynamic basis, reaches an integral synthesis as emergent degrees of meaningfulness. An Evolutionary Energetic Information Model with 15 tenets such as organisms as knowledge processors is proposed to contain and explain. Energy/entropy and information/semantics become a continuum, such that genomes and languages are versions of a natural source code. For a companion view, see Elements of a Semantic Code by Bernd-Olaf Kuppers (2013, search).

Joosten, Joost. Complexity Fits the Fittest. Zelinka, Ivan, et al, eds. How Nature Works: Complexity in Interdisciplinary Research and Applications. Berlin: Springer, 2014. The University of Barcelona logician is affiliated with the Algorthmic Nature group of the Paris-based Laboratory for Scientific Research for the Natural and Digital Sciences. By a general application of Stephen Wolfram’s cellular automata, the real presence a generative computational source in effect prior to selection can now be theoretically explained. This chapter, and a companion paper “On the Necessity of Complexity,” are available on the arXiv website.

In this paper we shall relate computational complexity to the principle of natural selection. We shall do this by giving a philosophical account of complexity versus universality. It seems sustainable to equate universal systems to complex systems or at least to potentially complex systems. Post’s problem on the existence of (natural) intermediate degrees then finds its analog in the Principle of Computational Equivalence (PCE). In this paper we address possible driving forces—if any—behind PCE. Both the natural aspects as well as the cognitive ones are investigated. We postulate a principle GNS that we call the Generalized Natural Selection principle that together with the Church-Turing thesis is seen to be in close correspondence to a weak version of PCE. Next, we view our cognitive toolkit in an evolutionary light and postulate a principle in analogy with Fodor’s language principle. (Complexity Fits the Fittest)

Wolfram's Principle of Computational Equivalence (PCE) implies that universal complexity abounds in nature. This paper comprises three sections. In the first section we consider the question why there are so many universal phenomena around. So, in a sense, we seek a driving force behind the PCE if any. We postulate a principle GNS that we call the Generalized Natural Selection Principle that together with the Church-Turing Thesis is seen to be equivalent to a weak version of PCE. In the second section we ask the question why we do not observe any phenomena that are complex but not-universal. We choose a cognitive setting to embark on this question and make some analogies with formal logic. In the third and final section we report on a case study where we see rich structures arise everywhere. (On the Necessity of Complexity)

Kari, Lila and Grzegorz Rozenberg. The Many Facets of Natural Computing. Communications of the ACM. 51/10, 2008. Kari, Canada Research Chair in Biocomputing, University of Western Ontario, and Rozenberg, pioneer Leiden University information philosopher offer an illistrated paean to the theoretical vista that “Nature is computation.” By so doing, a cross-fertilization accrues whence perceptions of a dynamic natural “software” can in turn inspire more viable computer capabilities. Prime instances via computational systems biology are “genomic computers,” gene regulatory and biochemical networks, transport and cellular computing, interactive organisms, and so on. These cases, for example, can infer computational immune systems, particle swarm optimization, and onto membrane, molecular, or quantum computing. See also Rozenberg’s chapter “Computer Science, Informatics, and Natural Computing” in Cooper, Barry, et al, eds. New Computational Paradigms (Springer, 2008).

Keller, Evelyn Fox. Towards a Science of Informed Matter. Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. 42/2, 2011. The MIT philosopher of science picks up on the insights of Chemistry laureate Jean-Marie Lehn (search) in support of a growing sense that nature’s materiality is not inert but suffused with prescriptive information. An inherent “non-equilibrium dynamics” is thus at work, so as to infer a “molecular informatics.” By these encounters, if one might allow a creative, organic universe, could these abstractions be actually trying to express a natural parent to child genetic code?

Over the last couple of decades, a call has begun to resound in a number of distinct fields of inquiry for a reattachment of form to matter, for an understanding of 'information' as inherently embodied, or, as Jean-Marie Lehn calls it, for a "science of informed matter." We hear this call most clearly in chemistry, in cognitive science, in molecular computation, and in robotics-all fields looking to biological processes to ground a new epistemology. (174)

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