NDLI: The Paradigms of Biology

Please wait, while we are loading the content...

The Paradigms of Biology

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Barbieri, Marcello
Copyright Year	2012
Abstract	Today there are two major theoretical frameworks in biology. One is the ‘chemical paradigm’, the idea that life is an extremely complex form of chemistry. The other is the ‘information paradigm’, the view that life is not just ‘chemistry’ but ‘chemistry-plus-information’. This implies the existence of a fundamental difference between information and chemistry, a conclusion that is strongly supported by the fact that information and information-based-processes like heredity and natural selection simply do not exist in the world of chemistry. Against this conclusion, the supporters of the chemical paradigm have pointed out that information processes are no different from chemical processes because they are both described by the same physical quantities. They may appear different, but this is only because they take place in extremely complex systems. According to the chemical paradigm, in other words, biological information is but a shortcut term that we use to avoid long descriptions of countless chemical reactions. It is intuitively appealing, but it does not represent a new ontological entity. It is merely a derived construct, a linguistic metaphor. The supporters of the information paradigm insist that information is a real and fundamental entity of Nature, but have not been able to prove this point. The result is that the chemical view has not been abandoned and the two paradigms are both coexisting today. Here it is shown that an alternative does exist and is a third theoretical framework that is referred to as the ‘code paradigm’. The key point is that we need to introduce in biology not only the concept of information but also that of meaning because any code is based on meaning and a genetic code does exist in every cell. The third paradigm is the view that organic information and organic meaning exist in every living system because they are the inevitable results of the processes of copying and coding that produce genes and proteins. Their true nature has eluded us for a long time because they are nominable entities, i.e., objective and reproducible observables that can be described only by naming their components in their natural order. They have also eluded us because nominable entities exist only in artifacts and biologists have not yet come to terms with the idea that life is artifact making. This is the idea that life arose from matter and yet it is fundamentally different from it because inanimate matter is made of spontaneous structures whereas life is made of manufactured objects. It will be shown, furthermore, that the existence of information and meaning in living systems is documented by the standard procedures of science. We do not have to abandon the scientific method in order to introduce meaning in biology. All we need is a science that becomes fully aware of the existence of organic codes in Nature.
Starting Page	33
Ending Page	59
Page Count	27
File Format	PDF
ISSN	18751342
Journal	Biosemiotics
Volume Number	6
Issue Number	1
e-ISSN	18751350
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2012-04-24
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Information Meaning Organic codes Mechanism Observables Ontology Evolutionary Biology Linguistics (general) Philosophy of Science Psychology Computing Methodologies
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Communication Linguistics and Language

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

The Meaning(s) of Information, Code … and Meaning

Meaning in Nature: Organic Manufacture?

A Short History of Biosemiotics

Biology Needs Information Theory

A Mechanistic Model of Meaning

Three Types of Semiosis

Is the “Histone Code” an Organic Code?

On Meaning: A Biosemiotic Approach

Genomic Error-Correcting Codes in the Living World

The Paradigms of Biology

Similar Documents

The Meaning(s) of Information, Code … and Meaning

Meaning in Nature: Organic Manufacture?

A Short History of Biosemiotics

Biology Needs Information Theory

A Mechanistic Model of Meaning

Three Types of Semiosis

Is the “Histone Code” an Organic Code?

On Meaning: A Biosemiotic Approach

Genomic Error-Correcting Codes in the Living World

The Paradigms of Biology