2007/04/30 by Carlos Gershenson
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Computer Science · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Artificial life #Cellular Automata and Applications #Cognition #Cognitive systems #Computability, Logic, AI Algorithms #Information system #Living matter #Natural (archaeology) #Origins and Evolution of Life #cs.AI #cs.IT #math.IT #q-bio.PE
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-18003-3_10
published as Minai, A., Braha, D., and Bar-Yam, Y., eds. Unifying Themes in Complex Systems VII, pp. 100-115. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg, 2012 · 16 pages. Extended version, three more laws of information, two classifications, and discussion added. To be published (soon) in International Conference on Complex Systems 2007 Proceedings
arxiv created 2010/10/13 · openalex publication_date 2012/01/01 · arxiv updated 2013/04/05 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
This paper discusses the benefits of describing the world as information, especially in the study of the evolution of life and cognition. Traditional studies encounter problems because it is difficult to describe life and cognition in terms of matter and energy, since their laws are valid only at the physical scale. However, if matter and energy, as well as life and cognition, are described in terms of information, evolution can be described consistently as information becoming more complex. The paper presents eight tentative laws of information, valid at multiple scales, which are generalizations of Darwinian, cybernetic, thermodynamic, psychological, philosophical, and complexity principles. These are further used to discuss the notions of life, cognition and their evolution.