The Information Theory of Biology & Origins of Life with Sara Imari Walker (Big Biology Podcast Crossover)
Aug 12, 2020
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Guest Sara Imari Walker discusses the information theory of biology and origins of life. Topics include the relation between information, matter, and energy, the search for a fundamental understanding of life, the emergence of life on Earth, the role of information in defining life's principles, the challenges of reductionism in biology, self-replication theories, major transitions in biology linked to information processing, and the interconnectedness of life as a system from biology to AI.
Understanding the role of information is fundamental to life, drawing analogies from physics.
Complex system science emphasizes relationships and processes over object-focused approaches.
The evolution of life involves increasing constructors, influencing planetary systems and civilizations.
Deep dives
Understanding the Laws of Information as the Laws of Life
The podcast delves into the importance of understanding the role of information in the physical world as fundamental to life. It draws analogies from physics, emphasizing the significance of studying living organisms to comprehend the operation of information. The origin of life transition is highlighted, focusing on how systems evolve from limited information involvement to intense informational dynamics.
Shift to Emphasizing Relationships and Processes in Complex System Science
The discussion shifts towards the significance of relationships and processes in complex system science, moving away from mere object-focused approaches. The integration of different scientific lineages is explored, aiming to unify formulations and understand the interaction between information, matter, and energy. Fundamental questions about life's essence, origin, and timeline are raised, driving the exploration into the intriguing complexities of the living world.
Exploring the Origins of Life and Conceptual Unification
Addressing the origins of life on Earth, the podcast navigates through historical and testable questions surrounding life emergence. Speculation on life's initial complexity, challenges in fossil record interpretation, and the concept of the last universal common ancestor are scrutinized. Reflecting on the metabolic geochemistry's role in biochemical emergence, the debate between genetics-first and metabolism-first theories is discussed. The need for a unified theoretical perspective to unravel life's essence is underscored, urging a deeper investigation into the information-matter interplay.
Evolution of Life as Information Processing
The evolution of life on Earth is perceived as a progression of increasing the number of constructors or things that can be constructed due to the growth of information in biological systems. This escalation leads to a broader range of transformations that information can mediate, impacting the planet's systems and human civilization. Through history, the development of knowledge and imagination has expanded the possibilities, from adapting to environments to creating innovative technologies. The concept of life as a continual expansion of information and constructors reflects a push towards a universal constructor despite challenges in defining and pinpointing such entities.
Searching for Life Beyond Earth
In the quest for life beyond Earth, challenges arise in identifying potential biosignatures and distinguishing natural processes from biological origins, hampering the search for extraterrestrial life. The approach towards identifying life on exoplanets is shifting towards statistical searches and inference methods, striving to ascertain the likelihood of life existing on a planetary scale rather than focusing on individual planet detections. This transition indicates the necessity for a broader perspective encompassing statistical modeling to assess the presence of life in exoplanetary systems.
One of the defining characteristics of complex systems science is the shift in emphasis from objects to relationships and processes. How is information related to matter and energy, and how do the distinct formulations of different scientific lineages braid together in a unifying pattern? This search for a more fundamental understanding drives directly into some of the biggest questions science has to ask about the living world — namely, what is life, what is alive, and when did life begin? The Santa Fe Institute has drawn from the deep wells of these questions since the 1980s. In our second episode, Complexity Podcast dove in to explore the origins of life, but even that in-depth conversation left a lot unsaid.
Welcome to Complexity, the official podcast of the Santa Fe Institute. I’m your host, Michael Garfield. While we continue our short summer hiatus, here’s a superb interview with the Santa Fe Institute’s newly announced External Professor, Sara Imari Walker of Arizona State University, by Marty Martin and Art Woods, the hosts of the Big Biology Podcast. In this rapid-fire rap from their ninth episode, Sara talks about how physics — and in particular information theory — refocuses the lens through which researchers ask about the nature of living systems and look for signs of life elsewhere in the cosmos. We hope that you enjoy and — after subscribing to Complexity and Big Biology wherever you go for podcasts — follow up with their equally illuminating conversation with SFI External Professor Andy Dobson on disease ecology.
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