Biosemiotic Entropy: Disorder, Disease, and Mortality

Dear Colleagues,

The simplest and most informative linguistic messages are the kind found in ordinary true narratives. Such valid messages ― laden with pragmatic information ― provide the limiting antithesis of biosemiotic entropy. Generalizing from linguistic to biological systems, and taking account of some of the countless ways any complex arrangement of symbols can be rendered senseless, the thesis to be explored in this special issue is that the corruption of biological messages from genetics upward to epigenetics, proteins, cells, tissues, and the organs of viable organisms ― which can be described as biosemiotic entropy ― is, unsurprisingly, the proximate cause of disorders, diseases, and mortality. We invite contributions ― pro, con, or offering any plausible alternative ― to the idea that corrupted biological messages account for (but, of course, are not limited to) anaphylaxis, preeclampsia, sudden death syndrome, immune disorders, autism, and so forth. Empirical and theoretical articles are invited exploring pathways by which toxins, disease agents, and their interactions, and/or injuries from microwave, electromagnetic, radiological, or other energy sources can be shown to increase biosemiotic entropy. Empirically grounded arguments showing how cascading series of effects lead to certain injuries, diseases, and/or known disorders are preferred.

Prof. Dr. John W. Oller, Jr.
Guest Editor