<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<p>In (1990), J. A. Wheeler has written:<br>
<br>
It from bit. Otherwise put, every it — every particle, every field
of force, even the space-time continuum itself — derives its
function, its meaning, its very existence entirely — even if in
some contexts indirectly — from the apparatus-elicited answers to
yes-or-no questions, binary choices, bits. It from bit symbolizes
the idea that every item of the physical world has at bottom — at
a very deep bottom, in most instances — an immaterial source and
explanation; that which we call reality arises in the last
analysis from the posing of yes-no questions and the registering
of equipment-evoked responses; in short, that all things physical
are information-theoretic in origin and that this is a
participatory universe.<br>
<br>
It follows that Wheelers universe is based on immaterial
information. It doesn’t make sense because there is no information
(no structure, no anything) without energy (causal force). It is
so obvious that sometimes difficult to realize that structure e.g.
10010110 does not exist without energy quanta (ones) which only
definition (only information we have about them) is that they are
different from zero - the structure 00000000 does not exist
(Aristotle knew this well).</p>
<p>Mariusz</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">W dniu 09.01.2024 o 04:01, Malcolm Dean
pisze:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAEu1PWA_K225zWTQqDh4k_7pXG9xC=0fLiuJu5gdKzcQ+R4azA@mail.gmail.com">
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<div dir="ltr">Pedro, thanks for mentioning Vladimir Lerner's work
:<br>
How Information Creates Its Observer (Lerner 2019)<br>
A PDF will be sent on request.<br>
<br>
Wheeler's aphorism comes as a cosmogony, and hence, a
metaphysical burden. It was meant to point to the most
fundamental physics, in the context of his universal
Observer-Participator. Most of this has been carefully avoided
in the literature, in my opinion, because it demands a
hierarchical monistic worldview.<br>
<br>
To leave "it" for physicists and "bit" for computerists, or as
many do, to conceive Information in the sense of Shannon, is to
frame the investigation in a way which excludes Wheeler's view.
McLuhan (1974) [<a
href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l_ugK386QY__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Vkl7FlWlpcF3bSYLz1dPMOWxfTtnFVpsQynamYgo6oO5UKvN-TCyEgObl5Ygjx44Xx45TtnnOEvQUMTKLuIamlc$"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l_ugK386QY</a>
] observed "my kind of study and communication is really a study
of transformation, whereas information theory and all the
existing theories of communication I know of are theories of
transportation."<br>
<br>
Perhaps a better way to translate Wheeler is to use the term
"interactant" (instead of the problematic "observer")<span
class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">. Interaction</span> applies
to any scale and any medium. I think one of Vladimir's
contributions is to show mathematically how the Observer
_follows from_ interactions<span class="gmail_default"
style="font-size:small">.</span><span class="gmail_default"
style="font-size:small"></span><span class="gmail_default"
style="font-size:small"> As processes interact, they model
their world, </span>eventually becoming intelligent and
possibly self-aware.<span class="gmail_default"
style="font-size:small"> It from Bit leads to Objects from
Bits.</span><br>
<br>
The "adjacent possible" has <span class="gmail_default"
style="font-size:small">long </span>been studied in Bejan's
Constructal Theory, which has a large literature and regular
international conferences. I relate Constructal Theory to
Lerner's Information Path <span class="gmail_default"
style="font-size:small">just </span>as Thermodynamics relates
to Information processes.<span class="gmail_default"
style="font-size:small"> Both are universal observations which
describe the cosmos from fundamental distinctions to
self-aware agents.</span>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">I brace
myself for the usual excoriation.</div>
<br>
<br>
Malcolm Dean<br>
Los Angeles<br>
<br>
--</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="moz-mime-attachment-header"></fieldset>
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">_______________________________________________
Fis mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Fis@listas.unizar.es">Fis@listas.unizar.es</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://listas.unizar.es/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fis">http://listas.unizar.es/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fis</a>
----------
INFORMACIÓN SOBRE PROTECCIÓN DE DATOS DE CARÁCTER PERSONAL
Ud. recibe este correo por pertenecer a una lista de correo gestionada por la Universidad de Zaragoza.
Puede encontrar toda la información sobre como tratamos sus datos en el siguiente enlace: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://sicuz.unizar.es/informacion-sobre-proteccion-de-datos-de-caracter-personal-en-listas">https://sicuz.unizar.es/informacion-sobre-proteccion-de-datos-de-caracter-personal-en-listas</a>
Recuerde que si está suscrito a una lista voluntaria Ud. puede darse de baja desde la propia aplicación en el momento en que lo desee.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://listas.unizar.es">http://listas.unizar.es</a>
----------
</pre>
</blockquote>
</body>
</html>