In the previous section on the
properties of complex system memory I mentioned two:
1. Memory is a doublet
{state, trigger}.
2. An isolated system has no memory since its states cannot be read or modified.
They do not meet the doublet requirement. An isolated system is
simply a pile of bits (matter). It does not matter whether its entropy (information)
is high or low. In its splendid isolation it will remain dumb
for ever.
How does this relate to information theory with its tools to measure the
information capacity of any system? According to Claude Shannon (1948) all
information has a "source rate" that can be measured in bits per
second. Information theory knows how to measure information capacity even
of an isolated system yet does not specify its meaning. A dumb system may
have a great capacity to store information. As long as it is isolated this
information is meaningless.
The information of a message is inversely proportional to its entropy. The
greater the information, the lower its randomness, and hence the smaller its
entropy. Information is a measure of the freedom of choice with which
a message is selected from the set of all possible messages.
In complex systems memory is a doublet {state, trigger}. In an isolated
system the trigger does not exist and its Information (or entropy)
can be precisely determined. Yet when the trigger is activated information
changes. Therefore Information depends on the trigger. While information
theory measures information in isolated channels, in a complex system information
is a component of a doublet { Information, trigger}. Since complex
system memory is embodied, information theory is of little use.
Hermeneutics
Hermeneutics is a theory for the interpretation of messages.
During the Reformation hermeneutics came into being as a special discipline
concerned with biblical interpretation and criticism. Yet what is meant by
a proper understanding of a text? How can we find out what the intention of
the author of the text was? We can’t! Since the text is a component of
a doublet {text, trigger} and the reader is its trigger, hermeneutics depends
on us.
In the search for the attributes of complex systems I discovered Aristotle.
A biologist impressed with the complexity of nature, although the notion
of complexity as we have it was unknown to him. In order to understand Nature
we need four arguments, which he called Four Causes. Their relevance to complexity,
and CA are explained in a different section..
Aristotle’s concept of the soul is particularly interesting. Plants and animals
have a soul which is an integral part of their structure and dies when they
do. How may we understand it. The organism is a set of processes which interact
and control each other. This overall control is perceived by us the as a
soul of the system. I call it the Wisdom
Of the Body (WOB). It is closely related to embodiment.
This is my hermeneutics of Aristotle’s great ideas. Does he turn now in his
grave? Not necessarily. If accepting the notion that his work and me are a
doublet of a complex system, he may rest in peace.
p.s. By the way all this babble is phenomenology
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