"...For many years, Hans Kuhn, a German
chemist from Gottingen, has championed a related line of thought applied to
biological systems. In an attempt to understand the origins and evolution of
life, he has focussed on the discarding of information along the way. According
to Kuhn, biological evolution consists of a series of choices where an organism
relates to its surroundings. These surroundings subject it to pressure, and it
must choose to act in order to survive. Its genes contain experience in
survival-otherwise there would be no organism, and no genes.
The more the organism survives, the more it experiences. And the more valuable its genes become. So the interesting thing is not how many genes it has-i.e., how long its DNA is. The interesting thing is the wealth of experience deposited in its genes.
The information an organism contains in its genes has a value that is proportional to the mass of experiences compressed there. What's interesting is not the face value of the information-i.e., the size of the genes-but rather the information discarded. "This quality constitutes knowledge, where 'knowledge' is measured by the total number of bits to be discarded," Kuhn wrote. Biological knowledge, then, is defined simply as discarded information.
This also disposes of a problem that bothered many scientists when it was discovered. Lilies have far more DNA than human beings. They are beautiful, yes, but surely they are not wiser?"
Chapter 4: The Depth of Complexity. Part 1: Computation
from the book -
‘The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness down to Size’
Tor Norretranders Translated by Jonathan Sydenham
The more the organism survives, the more it experiences. And the more valuable its genes become. So the interesting thing is not how many genes it has-i.e., how long its DNA is. The interesting thing is the wealth of experience deposited in its genes.
The information an organism contains in its genes has a value that is proportional to the mass of experiences compressed there. What's interesting is not the face value of the information-i.e., the size of the genes-but rather the information discarded. "This quality constitutes knowledge, where 'knowledge' is measured by the total number of bits to be discarded," Kuhn wrote. Biological knowledge, then, is defined simply as discarded information.
This also disposes of a problem that bothered many scientists when it was discovered. Lilies have far more DNA than human beings. They are beautiful, yes, but surely they are not wiser?"
Chapter 4: The Depth of Complexity. Part 1: Computation
from the book -
‘The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness down to Size’
Tor Norretranders Translated by Jonathan Sydenham
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