RE: [Fis] bioinformation and entropy

Then, one needs a previous clarification on molecular recognition itself
--its specificity, affinity, etc., so much related to molecular
energetics.

Dear Pedro and colleagues,

It seems to me that in this field, the notion of meaning and
meaning-processing as developed in sociology can perhaps be of some use
for biologists. The incoming information can be recognized if the
receiving system can distinguish between signal and noise with reference
to the expected information content of this system. Thus, the system has
to be able to position the incoming information--provide it with a
value--using a second degree of freedom (like in a Cartesian plane).
This second dimension can be structural or temporal.

If both these dimensions are available, one can expect the system to be
able not only to recognize the information, but also to retain the
information. To use the information to change its structure the system
would need a fourth degree of freedom enabling it to recombine its
spatial and temporal structures.

In other words: the temporal dimension, for example, allows the system
to provide the incoming information (first dimension) with meaning, but
equally the structural dimension can position the incoming information
at a specific moment of time. To relate these two structural and
temporal dimensions one would need a fourth dimension of the
probabilistic entropy that operates in the present, that is, with
hindsight. This corresponds to Rosen's model of an anticipatory system
because the fourth dimension allows the system to model the lower-level
interactions in the present.

The Evolution of <http://www.leydesdorff.net/evolcomm/index.htm>
Communication Systems, Int. J. Systems Research and Information Science
6 (1994) 219-30.

With kind regards,

Loet

  _____

Loet Leydesdorff
Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR)
Kloveniersburgwal 48, 1012 CX Amsterdam
Tel.: +31-20- 525 6598; fax: +31-20- 525 3681
 <mailto:loet@leydesdorff.net> loet@leydesdorff.net ;
<http://www.leydesdorff.net/> http://www.leydesdorff.net/

 <http://www.upublish.com/books/leydesdorff-sci.htm> The Challenge of
Scientometrics ; <http://www.upublish.com/books/leydesdorff.htm> The
Self-Organization of the Knowledge-Based Society
Received on Thu May 6 10:54:54 2004