Re: DNA carries information


Friar Broccoli wrote:
hersheyhv wrote:

[extensive snipping]


Friar Broccoli wrote:

DNA carries information like the orbits of planets carry information.

Planetary orbits don't make copies of themselves or their properties.

.

IOW, DNA only contains "information" when it is in the context of a
living cell or replicating entity such as a virus. The same DNA as a
simple chemical in a test tube contains no "information".

This is similar to the question. Suppose I discover the formula for
converting lead into gold. I record the formula, and encode it with
a password using an unbreakable encryption scheme, destroying all
other copies. Dr. Know then knocks me on the head causing me
to forget both the formula and the password. Does my encoded
message still contain info?

It no longer contains useful "information". And inutile "information"
is empirically indistinguishable from no information. Information is
only information in the context of it being useful to someone or
somebody or something.

I don't know the answer, but it is probably the same as for the free
DNA strand which also cannot be read.

Is that an
accurate statement of your view of the nature of "information" in DNA?
I noticed a decided failure on your part to tell us how you define
"information". If the word "information" were that clear, there would
not be several different definitions of information that do not
describe the same thing.

This is an important point. In my view (today) "information" is really
a
category descriptor containing a wide variety of similar elements.

In my defense, I am not the only one playing fast and loose with the
definition of "information". Dr Wilkin's explicity accepts at least 3
and
I could probably build a pretty good case that he implicitly accepts
many more. Thus, as I see it, all he did was draw an abitrary
(problem 1) line in the sand by saying that information is only
information when it is part of an "information processing system
(IPS)" without making a clear case that organisms/cells fail to
meet this test (problem 2).

I would argue that organisms/cells do not fail to meet the test of
being "information processing systems" wrt the DNA of their genomes.
It is only in the context of an organism/cell (or virus or viroid or
prion or whatever) that the sequence of DNA has any utility. And, in
my book, there is no difference between a random sequence and an
inutile one. Information is only informative in a context. Outside
that context there is no information. That is, information is a
contingent feature of a sequence, not an inherent property of the
sequence.

Cordially;

Friar Broccoli
Robert Keith Elias, Quebec, Canada Email: EliasRK (of) gmail * com
Best programmer's & all purpose text editor: http://www.semware.com

--------- I consider ALL arguments in support of my views ---------

.

Relevant Pages

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