Meaning = Information + Evolution

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This paper offers a "first link of a chain", bridging physical and, psychological or linguistically, mental notions of meaningful information.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/1611.02420.pdf
Meaning = Information + Evolution

Carlo Rovelli

CPT, Aix-Marseille Universit ́e, Universit ́e de Toulon, CNRS, F-13288 Marseille, France.

Notions like meaning, signal, intentionality, are difficult to relate to a physical word. I study a purely physical definition of “meaningful information”, from which these notions can be derived. It is inspired by a model recently illustrated by Kolchinsky and Wolpert, and improves on Dretske classic work on the relation between knowledge and information. I discuss what makes a physical process into a “signal”.

A quote from the paper- "The semantic notions of information and meaning are ul- timately tied to their Darwinian evolutionary origin. The suggestion is that the notion of meaningful information serves as a ground for the foundation of meaning. That is, it could offer the link between the purely physical world and the world of meaning, purpose, intentionality and value. It could bridge the gap."
 
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Although this is a good paper, we no longer host discussions of a philosophical nature. The thread will remain closed.