Information; does it lie at the basis of reality (Introduction)

by dhw, Thursday, April 04, 2019, 12:29 (2059 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: I agree that information is of no use until used actively by some one. By 'formative info' I was referring to God forming the universe with information. God used information during evolution. We know all sorts of information underlies life's processes.

dhw: If your God exists, then of course he created and used all the universe’s information that now lies passively awaiting other users. But I cannot see any relevance to your hypothesis that his sole aim was to design H. sapiens and he was unable to do it until he had spent 3.5+ billion years designing anything but H. sapiens.

DAVID: This is a discussion of the place of information in the process of making the universe, starting life, and evolving life. The only point is the use of supplied and possibly invented information. Through the use and interpretation of information humans are here.

If your God exists as the first cause, he must have invented and then used the information. If he doesn’t exist, then the information must already have been present in primal energy and matter, and we don’t know how that energy and matter was able to use it. As for your last comment, you might just as well say that through the use and interpretation of information, the universe, the Earth and all life including the whale, the cuttlefish, humans and the duck-billed platypus are here. I suggest we drop the subject.