The notion that computation produces information contradicts the notion that information is conserved made famous by the black hole paradox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hole_information_paradox "The evolution of the wave function is determined by a unitary operator<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_operator>, and unitarity <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarity_(physics)> implies that information is conserved in the quantum sense. This is the strictest form of determinism." I wonder how that jives with MWI? Richard
On Mon, Jan 20, 2014 at 10:04 PM, LizR <[email protected]> wrote: > A process which transforms information? Ultimately, digital computation > comes down to the NAND operation, I'm told, which means it's a lot of "bit > twiddling" which ultimately transforms one lots of bits into another. I > guess versions with non-binary data (like DNA I assume?) can be reduced in > principle to binary... > > Not sure about the entropy definition. Since nothing reduces entropy > globally, I assume you mean only locally... Or at the cosmic scale? The > expansion of the universe supposedly reduces entropy, or makes more states > available to matter at least (I think it increases the maximum available > entropy, as per Beckenstein, rather than reducing it). > > Well, life does that, I guess, temporarily... > > > > On 21 January 2014 09:17, Alberto G. Corona <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Computation is understood as whatever made by a digital computer or >> something that can be emulated (or aproximated) by a digital computer. >> So everything is a computation. That is a useless definition. because >> it embrace everything. >> >> Everything is legoland because everything can be emulated using lego >> pieces? No, my dear legologist. >> >> What about this definition? Computation is whatever that reduces >> entropy. In information terms, in the human context, computation is >> whatever that reduces uncertainty producing useful information and >> thus, in the environment of human society, a computer program is used >> ultimately to get that information and reduce entropy, that is to >> increase order in society, or at least for the human that uses it. >> >> A simulation is an special case of the latter. >> >> So there are things that are computations: what the living beings do >> at the chemical, physiological or nervous levels (and rational, social >> and technological level in case of humans) . But there are things that >> are not computations: almost everything else. >> >> >> -- >> Alberto. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Everything List" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
