On 10/6/06, Matt Mahoney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: (...)
The "program" can't be larger than the DNA which describes it. This is at most 6 x 10^9 bits, but probably much smaller because of all the noise (random mutations that have no effect), redundancy (multiple copies of genes), noncoding DNA (about 98%), and the fact that most of the DNA codes for things other than the brain. The actual complexity of the "program" (not including learned information) is probably closer to 10^6 bits.
(...)
Saying that all it is needed for building a brain is in the DNA is an understatement, I am afraid. Even at biomolecular level, DNA is not the only thing controlling ontogenesis or even cell processes; there is a lot a proteins involved in that too, some of them even *changing* the DNA. (Turing Machines anyone?) Also, the ontogenic process is heavily dependent on the environment, from purely local chemical conditions to large-scale physical fields (for instance, gravity itself is known to influence ontogenesis). Therefore, arguably part of the information is stored not in the DNA, but in the environment around it. At the present moment we have no idea about how much that "environmental storage" influences the process. ----- This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/[EMAIL PROTECTED]
