[syndicate] - material substrate - uneven speculation - bad physics -

[Alan Sondheim]

- material substrate - uneven speculation - bad physics -

Might we not consider mid-sized planets such as our own, information
sinks, based on the variegated materials held in more or less permanent
suspension in solid states? Such sinks in their totality characterize the
universe as much as plasmas do; plasmas contain little information on the
macroscopic scale, more, but not that much more, on the cosmic scale. When
matter qua matter is held taut, it functions as a data-bases which may be
retrieved, replaced, modified, etc.; in other words, a series of logical
operations may be applied - operations which ultimately diffuse due to
wear-and-tear, i.e. entropy - but which, in the larger meantime are pro-
-uctive of abstract entities that are duplicable, equivalent, and indepen-
dent of the material substrate itself. And such planets as our own contain
greater degrees of information in relation to the quantification (such is
it might theoretically be) of difference; in this sense, organic life con-
tributes the most, given its molecular variations and encodings. From this
I can only imagine an 'information astronomy,' charting variation, not
necessarily physical constitution (but ultimately based on such) within
the cosmos - this mapping might, in fact, present us with a more accurate
reading of the place and function of organic life in the universe -

On the other hand, real-material is obdurate, inert, and mid-sized planets
are likely to be relatively barren. Ultimately it becomes a question of
order and its constitution; clays, for example, possess some of the
characteristics of organic life, with relatively simple structures, while
the complexity of mountain chains or crater impact zones are the result of
well-understood, non-quantum, non-relativistic, processes.

Consider _information_ as that which propagates and transforms from one to
another almost-equivalent structure, and _information structures_ are
those abstracted second-order structures characterized by difference among
almost-equivalent entities. Propagation and transformation imply energy
and process; information structures are, in ordinary parlance, data-bases.
Propagation and process also imply mappings and equivalences; they are
operations upon the environment, as much as within it. They involve epis-
temological shifts from organic to non-organic compounds. Such shifts
generate epistemologies and second-order epistemologies.

It is better to leave this murkiness behind and think of information sinks
in general - sinks requiring potential wells, i.e. protective barriers,
for their accumulative properties. Without such wells, everything is lost
and information remains at the level of the monopole or singular bit.

How would we measure in an information astronomy? One can only imagine
slight disequilibriums, displacements, of planetary characteristics; one
can also look for Gaia structures (organic compounds and their demo-
graphics); one might be able to measure the 'roiling' of surface patches
or aggregates. In any case, it would be necessary to consider the sun, for
example, in relation to information-qua-stasis, given its continuous
upwelling processes - the same for plasmas and, in fact, most of the
constituents of the universe. And then what? Structure might reside longer
in a hard-drive than solar prominence or corona - in which case local time
becomes a necessary component (i.e. against the enormous space-time
distancings of the universe as a whole).


For the past 255 days, we have been following the so-called parallel
lines across this terrain; to the best of our knowledge, they have moved
neither closer nor farther apart.


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