III. Ecosmos: A Revolutionary Fertile, Habitable, Solar-Bioplanet, Incubator Lifescape

C. The Information Computation Turn

Hofkirchner, Wolfgang. Emergent Information: An Outline Unified Theory of Information. Singapore: World Scientific, 2013. The Vienna University of Technology information theorist provides a book length treatment of his novel cross-integration of self-organized, complex network phenomena with this communicative quality that serves to express the prescriptive content such systems carry and convey. A good review, to which the author refers, is A New Paradigm for the Information Age by Soren Brier and Zhou Liqian in Cybernetics and Human Knowing (21/3, 2014).

At the dawn of the information age, a proper understanding of information and how it relates to matter and energy is of utmost importance for the survival of civilisation. Yet, attempts to reconcile information concepts underlying science and technology with those en vogue in social science, humanities, and arts are rather rare. To be able to succeed in an ambitious task like this, the book advocates the application of complex systems theory and its philosophical underpinnings. Information needs to be interpreted in terms of self-organisation to do justice to the richness of its manifestations. The way the book does so will provide the reader with a deep insight into a basic feature of our world.

Hofkirchner, Wolfgang. Emergent Information: When a Difference Makes a Difference. TripleC. 11/1, 2013. In this Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society, a synopsis by the Vienna University of Technology scholar of his project to join nonlinear, complex network phenomena with this differential venue that represents the content that complex adaptive systems contain and transmit. The paper draws upon Gregory Bateson’s especial insights to set up a contrast, as the Abstract explains. For a longer treatment, see Emergent Information: An Outline Unified Theory of Information Framework, noted herein.

Gregory Bateson’s famous saying about information can be looked upon as a good foundation of a Unified Theory of Information (UTI). Section one discusses the hard and the soft science approaches to information. It will be argued that a UTI approach needs to overcome the divide between these approaches and can do so by adopting an historical and logical account of information. Section two gives a system theoretical sketch of such an information concept. It is based upon assuming a co-extension of self-organisation and information. Information is defined as a tripartite relation such that (1) Bateson’s “making a difference” is the build-up of the self-organised order; (2) Bateson’s “difference” that makes the difference is the perturbation that triggers the build-up; (3) Bateson’s difference that is made is made to the system because the perturbation serves a function for the system’s self-organisation. In semiotic terms, (1) a sign (= the self-organised order) relates (2) a signified (= the perturbation) (3) to a signmaker (= the system). In a third section, consequences of this concept for the knowledge about techno-social information processes and information structures will be focused on. (Abstract)

A Unified Theory of Information (UTI) as proposed here is a system theoretical concretisation of the integrative view developed above in philosophy-of-science terms. The core of it is the assumption that the process of self-organisation coincides with the process of information-generation (signproduction). The respective results (self-organised order and information or sign) also coincide. (8) Self-organisation is the spontaneous build-up of order of, or in, complex systems far from thermodynamical or chemical equilibrium. Self-organisation is the way systems come into existence or change their structure, state or behaviour and the way they maintain themselves (their structure, state or behaviour). Self-organising systems are complex systems in between cosmos and chaos, that is, self-organising systems find their way between determined order and indeterminate disorder to exhibit a behaviour that is the most flexible, adaptable and creative. (8)

Hofkirchner, Wolfgang. How to Design the Infosphere: the Fourth Revolution, the Management of the Life Cycle of Information, and Information Ethics as a Macroethics. Knowledge, Technology & Policy. 23/1-2, 2010. In a special issue on Luciano Floridi’s semantic theories, the Viennese philosopher finds this global burst of communication and content as the fulfillment of Vladimir Vernadsky, and others, planetary sensorium, a Noosphere. Search here and the author’s website for his further writings and insights.

(This paper) …contends that the information age is rather conceivable as a critical stage in which human evolution as a whole is at stake. The mastering of this crisis depends on an appropriate shaping of Information and Communication Technologies which requires ethical considerations. In this respect, Floridi’s notion of the fourth revolution, his assumption of the management of the life cycle of information, and his ontocentric macroethics will be discussed in the light of the term “scientific-technological revolution”, the idea of a noogenesis, a new way of thinking and new weltanschauung, the concept of friction in social and physical aspects, the concept of collective intelligence and its application to the Internet and last, but not least, the vision of a Global Sustainable Information Society. (Abstract, 177)

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).

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