As usual I'm way behind of reading the list, so please excuse me if this point has already been discussed. Randy wrote
My point about genetic 'information' vs message
'information' is as follows:
Genetic information is really complexity. It is a
particular configuration. This should not be confused with our description of
that complexity. Any computer code or information transmitted by sentient
beings, human or otherwise, involves assigning a meaning to a particular
physical configuration. That is fundamentally different from the genetic code
where a particular physical configuration has a function but not an assigned
meaning.
It occurs to me that you're assigning an anthropomorphic definition to "meaning". A particular sequence in the genome means "make a particular protein".
Genetic information is transferred through
replication, not through transmission via a channel. There's a fundamental
difference. Shannon talks about noisy channels and limits of information
transfer through those channels. Genetic replication is quite different and
doesn't follow those theorems.
Yet there can be replication errors and crossover is a random process.
To me, the conclusion of all this is that genetic
information, while having a lot of similarities to anthropogenic computer code,
is fundamentally different from any information transmitted by sentient beings.
Agreed, with perhaps a small quibble about the use of "fundamentally".
It is therefore not appropriate to infer an intelligent designer
from an analogy between genetic information and human
information.
Yes and no. To infer an intelligent designer from an analogy between genetic information and human information is wrong-headed and gives human information theory too much credit. To infer an intelligent designer from the beauty of the genetic code and how it operates may be more viable. I would object to that inference on theological grounds: I think God wants us to live in a relationship with Him, not "prove" Him from the physical world. But when I see beauty in the physical world it confirms in my mind the wisdom of God.
Bill Hamilton
William E. Hamilton, Jr., Ph.D.
248.652.4148 (home) 248.821.8156 (mobile)
"...If God is for us, who is against us?" Rom 8:31
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Received on Fri Apr 13 08:48:52 2007
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Fri Apr 13 2007 - 08:48:53 EDT