cellular intelligence (Evolution)

by dhw, Saturday, July 22, 2017, 10:20 (2680 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: You have again dismissed or skipped over the presence of intelligent information needed to have life appear.

dhw: I define information as facts relating to a specific subject. I do not believe that information is intelligent, or is capable of achieving anything at all until it is USED.*** The information needed (and the manner in which it has been used) to have life and cellular intelligence appear may be the product of intelligence, may be the product of chance, or may be the product of some kind of panpsychic evolution, as stated above. Meanwhile, you have again dismissed or skipped over the fact that not knowing the origin of cellular intelligence (like that of life) does not mean that cellular intelligence (or life) does not exist.

DAVID: I disagree. Information can be intelligent prior to it being used, but the intelligence behind it is demonstrated when it is used. Cellular intelligence is implanted as intelligent information.

One meaning of “intelligence” is information, e.g. about the activities of foreign governments. So intelligent information would presumably mean informative information, which is a tautology. The other meaning of “intelligence” is the ability to learn, understand, make decisions etc. I do not believe that information has the ability to learn, understand, make decisions etc. It is the creator of information or the user of information that has that ability. However, I am delighted to hear that you now believe there is such a thing as cellular intelligence (i.e. cells have the ability to learn, understand, make decisions etc.) and it is indeed possible that it has been implanted, or that it arose by chance, or that it is the product of some form of panpsychism.

*** QUOTE under “Information; applied to matter creates life”:

“Information itself has no material properties, it has no weight, it has no power to do anything. But when combined with enabling material technology, there are no limits to its power."
dhw: Precisely.
DAVID: Agreed.

So the intelligence comes from whoever/whatever uses the information, or applies the “material technology”, e.g. ants using information about their own bodies, buoyancy, balance, the environment etc. to build their ant-rafts and ant-towers, or cells using information about the environment and about their own capacity for material cooperation and self-organization in order to adapt or innovate.