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  Topic: The Biologic Institute Thread, The DI's top secret lab, revealed!< Next Oldest | Next Newest >  
guthrie



Posts: 696
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: May 15 2008,04:30   

Their "Research" page says:

Quote
A few key ideas run through all of our work. One is the idea that information is as real and fundamental as physical quantities, like mass or energy. As a measurable substance with real-world effects subject to law-like constraints, information is undeniably the stuff of science. It is also the stuff of technology… which is the stuff of design. Interestingly, the only places in the universe where we see information stored, processed and transmitted in digital code are the complex systems of human design and the even more complex design-like systems of life.

Another key idea is that highly complex functional systems cannot be understood properly just by examining their elementary constituents. The behavior of whole systems might be explained in terms of the behavior of their constituents, but it won’t be understood that way. To grasp the whole picture you have to look at the whole picture.

Both of these ideas suggest a broader principle that we have adopted. As designers, we humans know something about design. So if we really want to know whether the design-like systems in biology were designed, we ought to draw on that knowledge. To take this principle seriously, we need to promote a serious exchange of ideas between biology and the engineering disciplines.

Wooohooo, more engineers being told to fantasise.  Thats how you do science for sure.
More interestingly, how exactly is information a substance?
And if you look at their list of selected publications down the bottom of the page, it seems that Gonzalez' entire output is there.

  
  156 replies since Dec. 14 2006,03:44 < Next Oldest | Next Newest >  

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