The Centrality of information: a new book;dhw look (Introduction)

by dhw, Tuesday, March 31, 2015, 17:48 (3525 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: "According to Keith Ward and Arthur Peacocke, the information contained in DNA is not semantic information because no understanding is required for the translation and transcription processes that code for proteins. This kind of information belongs to a third category he calls "Shaping" or coded information and it requires no sentience. The functioning of the parts can only be explained by how they contribute to the organism as a whole, and this is true whether we are speaking of the universe as a whole or a living organism. Since consciousness is primordial and contains all possible states, we should not look to the simple to explain the complex, but rather the complex to explain the simple." (My bold and I agree as I have held, no true sentience is needed! They act as if they are sentient. show me how you can tell the difference.)-For organisms to cope with their environment, and to adapt to change, they must in some way absorb the “information” contained in the environment and use it. Absorbing information from and about the environment is the “sentience” part of the process, and I suggest that the IM is the mechanism that uses the information, i.e. the organism's “brain” or its equivalent. Many experts in the field tell us that bacteria, as single-celled organisms that respond and adapt to the environment, are sentient, cognitive beings. I argue that this gives plausibility to the theory of an autonomous IM. At one time you were adamant that cell/cell communities were automatons, but more recently, even you have accepted the possibility of what you call semi-autonomy. How would that be possible without sentience? You are quite right that, as with humans, so with bacteria and all cells/cell communities, we have no way of knowing whether what appears to be sentience and freedom of action is not in fact dictated by mechanisms already preprogrammed. Since we cannot know, we should remain open-minded.-The authors say “consciousness is primordial and contains all possible states.” By what authority can they make such a statement?