“Information”—from an Evolutionary Point of View
1
International Council for Scientific Development/International Academy of Science Health & Ecology (ICSD/IAS H&E), 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
2
Department for Normal Physiology, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, 11 Mokhovaya Street, building 4, 125009 Moscow, Russia
Information 2014, 5(2), 272-284; https://doi.org/10.3390/info5020272
Received: 9 January 2014 / Revised: 21 March 2014 / Accepted: 16 April 2014 / Published: 6 May 2014
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from FIS 2013 Moscow)
“Information” (=information including its processing, communication, etc.) is indispensable for the modern understanding of processes within cells, tissues, organs, the organism, but also between individuals and social structures. Is “information” the mathematically applicable substitute for the omnipotent and in all living entities identical Vis Vitalis, applicable also to machines? Vis Vitalis was falsified by evolutionary theory. Its explanatory power was not “saved” with an alternative hypothesis. So the causal explanation of what could be handled previously with Vis Vitalis remains a “grey area” in the landscape of sciences. “Information” seems to fill the gap between, e.g., body and mind. Therefore, an analysis of “information” from an evolutionary view can be helpful even for information sciences: there are gaps which cannot be bridged sufficiently, especially between the different evolutionary levels up to the “hierarchical structure” of a person as a social being. An analysis is presented: the meaning and the indispensable carriers of “information” have changed within the evolutionary processes. Options and restrictions for an evolution-oriented use of “information” are discussed and applied. Doing this it seems possible not only to bridge the gap between the layers within the biological, emotional, cognitive and intellectual hierarchical levels within a person, but between persons and machines too.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
information; evolution; extended view; Vis Vitalis; autopoiesis
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License
MDPI and ACS Style
Kofler, W. “Information”—from an Evolutionary Point of View. Information 2014, 5, 272-284.
AMA Style
Kofler W. “Information”—from an Evolutionary Point of View. Information. 2014; 5(2):272-284.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKofler, Walter. 2014. "“Information”—from an Evolutionary Point of View" Information 5, no. 2: 272-284.
Find Other Styles
Search more from Scilit