Information as the source of life (Introduction)

by dhw, Saturday, November 28, 2015, 14:35 (3070 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: Thank you again. It's not just you. The article you posted in the hope of clarifying the concept indulged in the same obfuscations, and I am reassured by your agreement. “Information” has become the buzzword of the moment, and in my view it is used so indiscriminately that the result is confusion masquerading as some sort of science.-DAVID: Once again you use 'buzzword'. This indicates to me your reluctance to dig into the latest area of thought. Remember Crick declaring DNA was the 'code of life' and implied our search into the control of life's processes was almost over. Instead a half century later we are still trying to unravel all the intricacies of the layers of control over gene expression, and we find that as a result only 20,000+ genes create the most complicated organism on Earth, humans. There is a very deep layer of information in those codes and modifiers. It is specified, complex information. It leads to a very specific conclusion: only a very superior complex intelligence could have created it.-A buzzword is a word “from one special area of knowledge that people suddenly think is very important” (Longman) I have never denied the importance of information, or that DNA is full of it! I have simply complained about its indiscriminate and confusing use by yourself and other commentators. In the course of our discussion you have treated us to processing information, interpreting information, intelligent information, planning information, static information, dynamic information, functional information, useful information, useless information, instructional information, and even informative information. On Thursday, however, you acknowledged: “I have been unclear in my discussion. [...] This is why you are the editor and I am the writer. Information and intelligence are two separate items.” It should have been champagne all round.-And yet today, under “Theoretical origin of life”, discussing the difficulty of understanding how the first cells “emerged”, you have commented: “No mention of information. Without it how are all those molecules organized?” How would information organize molecules? According to yourself: “Intelligence uses information in the design process.” Information doesn't use information in the design process. But you did not comment: ”No mention of intelligence. Without it how are all those molecules organized?” Even the heading of this thread contradicts your own beliefs, since you insist that the source of life is intelligence which uses information. Or are you now defining your God as universal information instead of universal intelligence? -After your acknowledgement that you had been “unclear”, I pointed out that others have been just as unclear, including the author of the article you thought would clarify the whole concept. I am not unwilling to “dig into the latest areas of thought”, but I am not willing to swallow what even you appeared on Thursday to have recognized as a confusing concoction arising out of indiscriminate use of a particular term. We have agreed that ”information and intelligence are two separate items.” Why don't we leave it at that?