Register | Sign In


Understanding through Discussion


EvC Forum active members: 65 (9162 total)
4 online now:
Newest Member: popoi
Post Volume: Total: 915,806 Year: 3,063/9,624 Month: 908/1,588 Week: 91/223 Day: 2/17 Hour: 0/0


Thread  Details

Email This Thread
Newer Topic | Older Topic
  
Author Topic:   Recent paper with an ID spin? Abel and Trevors (2005).
Wounded King
Member
Posts: 4149
From: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Joined: 04-09-2003


Message 1 of 2 (245948)
09-23-2005 11:28 AM


In a recent paper in Theoretical biology and medical modelling, a rether obscure member of the BioMed Central family of open access pulications, Abel and Trevors publish a paper on the nature of information and complexity in biopolymers(Abel and Trevors, 2005).
Genetic algorithms instruct sophisticated biological organization. Three qualitative kinds of sequence complexity exist: random (RSC), ordered (OSC), and functional (FSC). FSC alone provides algorithmic instruction. Random and Ordered Sequence Complexities lie at opposite ends of the same bi-directional sequence complexity vector. Randomness in sequence space is defined by a lack of Kolmogorov algorithmic compressibility. A sequence is compressible because it contains redundant order and patterns. Law-like cause-and-effect determinism produces highly compressible order. Such forced ordering precludes both information retention and freedom of selection so critical to algorithmic programming and control. Functional Sequence Complexity requires this added programming dimension of uncoerced selection at successive decision nodes in the string. Shannon information theory measures the relative degrees of RSC and OSC. Shannon information theory cannot measure FSC. FSC is invariably associated with all forms of complex biofunction, including biochemical pathways, cycles, positive and negative feedback regulation, and homeostatic metabolism. The algorithmic programming of FSC, not merely its aperiodicity, accounts for biological organization. No empirical evidence exists of either RSC of OSC ever having produced a single instance of sophisticated biological organization. Organization invariably manifests FSC rather than successive random events (RSC) or low-informational self-ordering phenomena (OSC).
There is a lot of highly jargonistic terminology in the paper, presumably the sort of things that information theorists are familiar with, which doesn't mean a whole lot to me.
Some of it sounds rathe IDist however, for example...
Naturalistic science has always sought to reduce chemistry to nothing more than dynamics. In such a context, chemistry cannot explain a sequencing phenomenon that is dynamically inert. If, on the other hand, chemistry possesses some metaphysical (beyond physical; beyond dynamics) transcendence over dynamics, then chemistry becomes philosophy/religion rather than naturalistic science.
One of the Authors works at the Origin-of-Life Foundation which, apart from having a pretty crappy website, seems to be an abiogenesis version of the JREF prize. I am slightly worried that they feel they have to state in their description of themselves ...
The Origin-of-Life Foundation should not be confused with "creation science" groups.
I'm not sure why they feel the need for this clarification unles sthey expect their line of enquiry to look suspiciously like those followed by 'creation science' and even more like those of ID proponents like Dembski.
Anyone care to comment on the information theory aspects of this? Pretty much all the actual biology simply seems to be linked to assertions that certain types of information cannot arise by particular mechanisms and I don't feel qualified to judge those claims.
Am I just being paranoid about the ID nature of this paper?
TTFN,
WK

Admin
Director
Posts: 12995
From: EvC Forum
Joined: 06-14-2002
Member Rating: 2.3


Message 2 of 2 (246073)
09-24-2005 8:26 AM


Thread copied to the Recent paper with an ID spin? Abel and Trevors (2005). thread in the Intelligent Design forum, this copy of the thread has been closed.

Newer Topic | Older Topic
Jump to:


Copyright 2001-2023 by EvC Forum, All Rights Reserved

™ Version 4.2
Innovative software from Qwixotic © 2024