Dualism of selective and structural manifestations of information in modelling of information dynamics

Marcin Schroeder

pp. 125-137

in: Gordana Dodig Crnkovic, Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic, Raffaela Giovagnoli (eds), Computing nature, Berlin, Springer, 2013

Abstract

Information can be defined in terms of the categorical opposition of one and many, leading to two manifestations of information, selective and structural. These manifestations of information are dual in the sense that one always is associated with the other. The dualism can be used to model and explain dynamics of information processes. Application of the analysis involving selective-structural duality is made in the contexts of two domains, of computation and foundations of living systems. Similarity of these two types of information processing allowing common way of their modelling becomes more evident in the naturalistic perspective on computing based on the observation that every computation is inherently analogue, and the distinction between analogue and digital information is only a matter of its meaning. In conclusion, it is proposed that the similar dynamics of information processes allows considering computational systems of increased hierarchical complexity resembling living systems.