Abstract
All information results from a process, intrinsic to living beings, of info-autopoiesis or information self-production; a sensory commensurable, self-referential feedback process immanent to Bateson’s ‘difference which makes a difference’. To highlight and illustrate the fundamental nature of the info-autopoietic process, initially, two simulations based on one-parameter feedback are presented. The first, simulates a homeostatic control mechanism (thermostat) which is representative of a mechanistic, cybernetic system with very predictable dynamics, fully dependent on an external referent. The second, simulates a homeorhetic process, inherent to biological systems, illustrating a self-referenced, autonomous system. Further, the active incorporation/interference of viral particles by prokaryotic cells and the activation of CRISPR-Cas can be understood as info-autopoiesis at the most fundamental cellular level, as well as constituting a planetary network of self-referenced information. Moreover, other examples of the info-autopoietic nature of information are presented to show the generality of its applicability. In short, info-autopoiesis is a recursive process that is sufficiently generic to be the only basis for information in nature: from the single cell, to multi-cellular organisms, to consideration of all types of natural and non-natural phenomena, including tools and artificial constructions.
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The author would like to acknowledge helpful discussions with Sergio dC. Rubin. Additionally, the author would like to acknowledge the reviewers and editors for their helpful, critical and insightful comments and suggestions, which have helped to significantly improve the content of this paper.
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Cárdenas-García, J.F. The Process of Info-Autopoiesis – the Source of all Information. Biosemiotics 13, 199–221 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12304-020-09384-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12304-020-09384-x