by Royal Truman
Part 1: overview of key ideas
The origin of information in nature cannot be explained if matter and energy is all there is. But the many, and often contradictory, meanings of information confound a clear analysis of why this is so. In this, the first of a four-part series, the key views about information theory by leading thinkers in the creation/evolution controversy are presented. In part 2, attention is drawn to various difficulties in the existing paradigms in use. Part 3 introduces the notion of replacing Information by Coded Information System (CIS) to resolve many difficulties. Part 4 completes the theoretical backbone of CIS theory, showing how various conceptual frameworks can be integrated into this comprehensive model. The intention is to focus the discussion in the future on whether CISs can arise naturalistically.
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Part 2: weaknesses in current conceptual frameworks
The origin of information is a problem for the theory of evolution. But the wide, and often inconsistent, use of the word information often leads to incompatible statements among Intelligent Design and creation science advocates. This hinders fruitful discussion. Most information theoreticians base their work on Shannon’s Information Theory. One conclusion is that the larger genomes of higher organisms require more information, and raises the question whether this could arise naturalistically. Lee Spetner claims no examples of information-increasing mutations are known, whereas most ID advocates only claim that not enough bits of information could have arisen during evolutionary timescales. It has also been proposed that nature reflects the intention of the Creator, and therefore all lifeforms might have the same information content. Gitt claims information can’t be measured. The underlying concepts of these theoreticians were discussed in part 1 of this series. In part 3 a solution will be offered for the difficulties documented here.
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Part 3: introduction to Coded Information Systems
The literature about information is confusing because so many properties are described for supposedly a singular entity. The discussion can be more fruitful once we realize we are studying systems with many components, one of which is a coded message. We introduce the notion of a Coded Information System (CIS) and can now pose an unambiguous question: “Where do CISs come from?”, which should be more precise than the vague alternative, “Where does information come from?” We can develop a model which is quantifiable by focusing on the effects a CIS has on organizing matter through a sequential set of refining steps.
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Part 4: fundamental theorems of Coded Information Systems Theory
In parts 1 and 2 of this series the work of various information theoreticians was outlined, and reasons were identified for needing to ask the same questions in a different manner. In Part 3 we saw that information often refers to many valid ideas but that the statements reflect we are not thinking of a single entity, but a system of discrete parts which produce an intended outcome by using different kinds of resources. We introduced in Part 3 the model for a new approach, i.e. that we are dealing with Coded Information Systems (CIS). Here in Part 4 the fundamental theories for CIS Theory are presented and we show that novel conclusions are reached.
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Information Theory Questions and Answers
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