From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!torn!cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!batcomputer!ghost.dsi.unimi.it!37.1!avl0 Tue Nov 24 10:52:43 EST 1992
Article 7704 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: avl0@cine88.cineca.it
Newsgroups: talk.origins,comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: Life is Information
Message-ID: <1992Nov23.095807.670@cine88.cineca.it>
Date: 23 Nov 92 09:58:07 +0100
References: <1992Nov15.013839.9458@u.washington.edu><1992Nov16.070141.2723@wixer.cactus.org> <69941@cup.portal.com>
Distribution: world
Organization: CINECA, Italian Interuniversity comp. centre
Lines: 48

In article <69941@cup.portal.com>, PLai@cup.portal.com (Patrick L Faith) writes:
>> [life as information]
> 
> I agree basically, with the caveat that life is the
> ability to block and transform information - which 
> blocking and transfering must be balanced.  A rock
> between two people can block information but not
> transfer much - therefore is a high level life form.
> 
> A computer can block some information going between
> people and transfer other pieces of information - but
> its ability to make realtime decisions of what to block
> and transfer is very limited - therefore a computer is
> a very low level life form.
> 
> Some humans have the ability to block and transfer fairly
> large levels of information.  Other humans have the very
> little information processing abilities.  Under this kind
> approach some people are at different levels of living - and
> the catagorization of life forms is based more on computational
> ability and aproach, rather than the format of which the computation
> is taking place (i.e. a computer that has a better understanding of
> all aspects of this planet may be considered more alive than a human
> that only lives by stereotypes and ignorance).
> 
> PLai

I agree with you. This definition of life can capture some ascpects of
the reality, but it is very dangerous, as you pointed out in the last
paragraph.
Suppose one forced to choise whether supply power to a computer *OR* food
to a human. Using the above definition the computer can be found to 
have much more right to get the power than the human to get the food.
This is of course an absurb (I hope!) that demonstrates, at least, the
limitation of the used definition.

But there's a vice in the scientific approach to the question. 
Having decided a priori that the human life must be tottaly explained
in a materialistic way, no special value can be attributed to humans.
And this is a simptom of the illness of our age which can't define a value
for the Man, then it thoerizes that he have'nt a value, so Ideology as
well as Businnes are judged much more important than men
 
-- 
"To be                     /// Marco Voli                  
 or not to be,            /// Supercomputing Group
 that is the problem"    /// CINECA  Interuniversitary Computing Centre
 W.S.                   /// via Magnanelli 6/3 - 40033 Casalecchio (BO) ITALY


