Information as Order Potential

Laid out before us

We observe the Universe

And select a path

Order in the universe can be quantified in terms of the information it contains. Information is a measurement of the lack of entropy which exists in a system. Although it appears on the surface to be only an abstract idea, information is not merely conceptual. In fact, in simple situations the information contained in an arrangement of objects can be determined exactly. For example, we can measure the information contained in a given sequence of numbers or letters or playing cards. But of course, on a larger scale it would be effectively impossible to determine the exact amount of information in a complex system -- like the grains of sand on a beach -- but it's there nevertheless.

You can think of information as a measure of unpredictability. Imagine a book which consists of only a random sequence of letters. No matter how long such a book is, it does not contain any surprises. It's very predictable in some sense, because each letter is equally likely to appear next in the sequence. This is why a useful book uses sequences of letters called words, with words combined to make sentences, sentences create paragraphs and so on. This type of book contains information on many levels. In a similar way, buildings contain more information than piles of bricks and crystals contain more information than clouds.

Define universal order as the information stored external to an individual. Just like a book, information is stored in the universe via the arrangement of physical objects at many levels. Similarly, define order potential as the information stored within the individual. Internally, information is stored in our mind in the form of memories. These memories are then used as inputs to selected heuristics to evaluate available decisions. This process of evaluation is what allows consciousness to select an action.

The Observation-Action Cycle >>>