Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
sciences by reductionism, a new trend seems to be emerging in physics and life
sciences that emphasizes
integration
and
holism
, without necessarily denying the
fundamental importance of
reductionism
(Elsasser 1998; von Baeyer 2004;
Emmeche 2002; Hoffmeyer 1996, 2008; Fern
´
ndez 2008). As a concrete example
of such a new trend, we may cite the isomorphism found between the cell language
and the human language (see Table
6.3
). One of the major goals of this topic is to
reveal the deep connection that exists between
life
and
semiosis
, thereby laying the
foundation for a
semiotic theory of life
, or organisms viewed as systems of
molecu-
lar signs
and
sign processes
(Hoffmeyer 1996).
6.2.8 Semiotics and Information Theory
The study of information may not be successfully carried out without the aid of
semiotics.
This is because information is carried by
signs
(without signs, no
information can be generated, transformed, stored, or transmitted) and the study
of signs in general is the domain of
semiotics
. Nauta (1972) states a similar view in
greater details:
...
Much work has been done in the field of pure information theory, but the problems
concerning the meaning (i.e., semantics vis-`-vis syntactic; my addition) and application
(i.e., pragmatics: my addition) of information have largely been neglected. In our opinion,
these important problems can be tackled only from a semiotic point of view. The key to
these problems will be the analysis of signals, signs and symbols. (Nauta 1972, p. 29)
(6.27)
Semiotics, divided into transmission theory, syntactics, semantics and pragmatics, and
subdivided into pure, descriptive, and applied semiotics, offers a general framework for
the study of information processes and for the development of a universal theory of
information. In its generalized form, semiotics encompasses the following fields: Logistics
(artificial symbols) Linguistics (symbols) Semiotics in a narrower sense (signs)
Automatics, the study of automatic processes and pre-coded representations and
mechanisms (signals). (Nauta 1972, pp. 61-62) (6.28)
Nauta distinguishes three information carriers - “signals,” “signs,” and
“symbols” (Table
6.10
). He defines signals as carriers of
form
but not
meaning
or
function
; signs as carriers of form and meaning but not of function; symbols as
carriers of form, meaning, and functions. This contrasts with Peirce's division of
signs into “iconic signs,” “indexical signs,” and “symbolic signs,” each of which
can have form, meaning, and function (Table
6.10
).
It is not clear to me why Nauta invoked his triad of information carriers rather
than using Peirce's original sign triad, but it may be possible to represent Nauta's
information carriers as linear combinations of Peirce's triadic signs. Writing
Nauta's information carriers with capital letters and Peirce's signs with lower-
case letters, we may construct a set of algebraic equations as shown below, where
