Self-modifying systems: a model for the constructive origin of information.

The mechanisms of information processing in Turning machines and biological systems are examined from the point of view of physical sets of variables. Computation is characterized as a process, the realization of which involves a bounded set of interactions and a pre-definable set of variables in real systems. Using ideas from process philosophy, the ability of natural systems to transcend these computational modes is discussed. A class of systems, called self-modifying systems, that utilize persistent shifts in their defining interactions and variable composition is introduced. Various other ideas that lead to similarly non-computational or semi-computational scenarios (as in the case of distributed code systems) are referenced. As applications, computer models of emergent phenomena using randomly growing interaction sets as well as theoretical issues that range from the meaning of simulation to the problem of information gain in self-modifying systems are discussed.

Life, self-reproduction and information: beyond the machine metaphor.

The problem of representing information in automation models of self-replication is considered. It is shown that, unlike in the natural reproduction process, in a computable model the reproduced entities do not contain all the information necessary for guiding the process. Current theoretical understanding of life and its replication, based on such models, is argued to be essentially inadequate. The solution to this problem is claimed to require recognition of the theoretical fact that information in living systems is different from that subsumed under the category of "knowledge", which is representable as computer programs or triggers of state transitions. A discussion of fundamentals of a new theory of information and its relationship to replication models is given and a new direction of further developments of biological theories is envisioned.

Replication in abstract and natural systems.

Real reproducing systems are contrasted with cellular automata-based models of self-reproduction. It is argued that the reproduction described by the latter is trivial compared to its biological counterpart. The paper explores a few reasons and consequences of this situation, along with a discussion on different forms of the basic reproduction (and construction) process.

Autogenesis: the evolution of replicative systems.

Questions concerning the nature and origin of living systems and the hierarchy of their evolutionary processes are considered, and several problems which arise in connection with formerly developed theories--the autopoiesis of Maturana & Varela, the POL theory of Haukioja and the earlier developed evolutionary theory of Csányi--are discussed. The organization of living systems, the use of informational terms and the question how reproduction can enter into their characterization, problems of autonomy and identity are included in the list. It is suggested that replication--a copying process achieved by a special network of interrelatedness of components and component-producing processes that produces the same network as that which produced them--characterizes the living organization. The information "used" in this copying process, whether it is stored by special means or distributed in the whole system, is called replicative information. A theoretical model is introduced for the spontaneous emergence of replicative organization, called autogenesis. Autogenesis commences in a system by an organized "small" subsystem, referred to as AutoGenetic System Precursor (AGSP), which conveys replicative information to the system. During autogenesis, replicative information increases in system and compartment(s) form. A compartment is the co-replicating totality of components. The end state of autogenesis is an invariantly self-replicating organization which is unable to undergo further intrinsic organizational changes. It is suggested that replicative unities--such as living organisms--evolve via autogenesis. Levels of evolution emerge as a consequence of the relative autonomy of the autogenetic unities. On the next level they can be considered as components endowed with functions and a new autogenetic process can commence. Thus evolution proceeds towards its end state through the parallel autogenesis of the various levels. In terms of applications, ontogenesis is dealt with in detail as an autogenetic process as is the autogenesis of the biosphere and the global system.