Inforg

Last updated

An inforg is an informationally embodied organism, entity made up of information, that exists in the infosphere. These informationally embodied organisms are also called natural agents.

Infosphere is a neologism composed of information and sphere. The word refers to an environment, like a biosphere, that is populated by informational entities called inforgs. While an example of the sphere of information is cyberspace, infospheres are not limited to purely online environments.

Contents

Description

Inforgs was used by Luciano Floridi to describe what makes up an infosphere. [1] The usage of the word describes organisms that are made up of information rather than "standalone and unique entities". This description of inforgs allows them to exist in the infosphere as natural agents alongside artificial agents. Inforgs can be part of a hybrid agent that is, for example, a family with digital devices such as digital cameras, cell phones, tablets, and laptops.

Luciano Floridi Italian philosopher

Luciano Floridi is currently Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information and Director of the Digital Ethics Lab, at the University of Oxford, Oxford Internet Institute, Professorial Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, Senior Member of the Faculty of Philosophy, Research Associate and Fellow in Information Policy at the Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, and Distinguished Research Fellow of the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. He is also Adjunct Professor, Department of Economics, American University, Washington D.C. He is Turing Fellow and Chair of the Data Ethics Group (DEG) of the Alan Turing Institute

Norbert Wiener describes organisms as entities defined by patterns of persisting Shannon information. [2] Shannon information, named after Claude Shannon, places information in the physical realm allowing it to be manipulated by the laws of nature and science. Thus, inforgs are composed of matter, energy, and Shannon information. An experiment that supports inforgs and the component of Shannon information is the use of DNA as a medium for data storage. [3] Encoding DNA, which is considered to be the building blocks of organisms, to hold binary information reinforces the idea that living organisms are "persisting patterns of Shannon information encoded within an ever-changing flux of matter-energy". [4]

DNA Molecule that encodes the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known organisms and many viruses

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule composed of two chains that coil around each other to form a double helix carrying the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning, and reproduction of all known organisms and many viruses. DNA and ribonucleic acid (RNA) are nucleic acids; alongside proteins, lipids and complex carbohydrates (polysaccharides), nucleic acids are one of the four major types of macromolecules that are essential for all known forms of life.

The Shannon information that is found within an inforg also contains the identity of said organism. For example, A human being's identity is not matter or energy but rather encoded by patterns of Shannon information within his/her body. [5] While a person's body may change over time, his/her identity persists through time. The manipulation of Shannon information in an inforg is under what is called the metaphysical realm.

Metaphysics Branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of reality

Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the fundamental nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, between substance and attribute, and between possibility and actuality. The word "metaphysics" comes from two Greek words that, together, literally mean "after or behind or among [the study of] the natural". It has been suggested that the term might have been coined by a first century CE editor who assembled various small selections of Aristotle’s works into the treatise we now know by the name Metaphysics.

See also

Information that which informs; the answer to a question of some kind; that from which data and knowledge can be derived

Information is the resolution of uncertainty; it is that which answers the question of "what an entity is" and is thus that which specifies the nature of that entity, as well as the essentiality of its properties. Information is associated with data and knowledge, as data is meaningful information and represents the values attributed to parameters, and knowledge signifies understanding of an abstract or concrete concept. The existence of information can be uncoupled from an observer, which refers to that which accesses information to discern that which it specifies; information exists beyond an event horizon for example. In the case of knowledge, the information itself requires a cognitive observer to be accessed.

The Information Age is a historic period in the 21st century characterized by the rapid shift from traditional industry that the Industrial Revolution brought through industrialization, to an economy based on information technology. The onset of the Information Age can be associated with William Shockley, Walter Houser Brattain and John Bardeen, the inventors and engineers behind the first transistors, revolutionising modern technologies. With the Digital Revolution, just as the Industrial Revolution marked the onset of the Industrial Age. The definition of what "digital" means continues to change over time as new technologies, user devices, methods of interaction with other humans and devices enter the domain of research, development and market launch.

Related Research Articles

Norbert Wiener American mathematician

Norbert Wiener was an American mathematician and philosopher. He was a professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A child prodigy, Wiener later became an early researcher in stochastic and mathematical noise processes, contributing work relevant to electronic engineering, electronic communication, and control systems.

Communication theory is a field of information theory and mathematics that studies the technical process of information.

In physics and cosmology, digital physics is a collection of theoretical perspectives based on the premise that the universe is describable by information. It is a form of digital ontology about the physical reality. According to this theory, the universe can be conceived of as either the output of a deterministic or probabilistic computer program, a vast, digital computation device, or mathematically isomorphic to such a device.

Computer ethics is a part of practical philosophy concerned with how computing professionals should make decisions regarding professional and social conduct. Margaret Anne Pierce, a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computers at Georgia Southern University has categorized the ethical decisions related to computer technology and usage into three primary influences:

  1. The individual's own personal code.
  2. Any informal code of ethical conduct that exists in the work place.
  3. Exposure to formal codes of ethics.

Metaknowledge or meta-knowledge is knowledge about a preselected knowledge.

Information ethics has been defined as "the branch of ethics that focuses on the relationship between the creation, organization, dissemination, and use of information, and the ethical standards and moral codes governing human conduct in society". It examines the morality that comes from information as a resource, a product, or as a target. It provides a critical framework for considering moral issues concerning informational privacy, moral agency, new environmental issues, problems arising from the life-cycle of information. It is very vital to understand that librarians, archivists, information professionals among others, really understand the importance of knowing how to disseminate proper information as well as being responsible with their actions when addressing information.

The International Association for Computing and Philosophy is a professional, philosophical association emerging from a history of conferences that began in 1986. Adopting its mission from these conferences, the IACAP exists in order to promote scholarly dialogue on all aspects of the computational/informational turn and the use of computers in the service of philosophy.

The philosophy of information (PI) is a branch of philosophy that studies topics relevant to computer science, information science and information technology.

The Barwise prize was established in 2002 by the American Philosophical Association, in conjunction with the APA Committee on Philosophy and Computers, on the basis of a proposal from the International Association for Computing and Philosophy for significant and sustained contributions to areas relevant to philosophy and computing.

Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that investigates principles of reality transcending those of any particular science. Cosmology and ontology are traditional branches of metaphysics. It is concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world. Someone who studies metaphysics can be called either a "metaphysician" or a "metaphysicist".

<i>The Human Use of Human Beings</i> book by Norbert Wiener

The Human Use of Human Beings is a book by Norbert Wiener, the founding thinker of cybernetics theory and an influential advocate of automation; it was first published in 1950 and revised in 1954. The text argues for the benefits of automation to society; it analyzes the meaning of productive communication and discusses ways for humans and machines to cooperate, with the potential to amplify human power and release people from the repetitive drudgery of manual labor, in favor of more creative pursuits in knowledge work and the arts. The risk that such changes might harm society is explored, and suggestions are offered on how to avoid such risk.

Terrell Ward Bynum philosopher

Terrell Ward Bynum is an American philosopher, writer and editor. Bynum is currently director of the Research Center on Computing and Society at Southern Connecticut State University, where he is also a professor of philosophy, and visiting professor in the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility in De Montfort University, Leicester, England. He is best known as a pioneer and historian in the field of computer and information ethics; for his achievements in that field, he was awarded the Barwise Prize of the American Philosophical Association, the Weizenbaum Award of the International Society for Ethics and Information Technology, and the 2011 Covey Award of the International Association for Computing and Philosophy. In addition, Bynum was the founder and longtime editor-in-chief of the philosophy journal Metaphilosophy ; a key founding figure (1974–1980) and the first executive director (1980–1982) of the American Association of Philosophy Teachers; biographer of the philosopher/ mathematician Gottlob Frege, as well as a translator of Frege's early works in logic. Bynum's most recent research and publications concern the ultimate nature of the universe and the impact of the information revolution upon philosophy.

<i>Grammatical Man</i> book by Jeremy Campbell

Grammatical Man: Information, Entropy, Language, and Life is a 1982 book written by the Evening Standard's Washington correspondent, Jeremy Campbell. The book touches on topics of probability, Information Theory, cybernetics, genetics and linguistics. The book frames and examines existence, from the Big Bang to DNA to human communication to artificial intelligence, in terms of information processes. The text consists of a foreword, twenty-one chapters, and an afterword. It is divided into four parts: Establishing the Theory of Information; Nature as an Information Process; Coding Language, Coding Life; How the Brain Puts It All Together.

DNA digital data storage is defined as the process of encoding and decoding binary data to and from synthesized DNA strands. DNA molecules are genetic blueprints for living cells and organisms. Although DNA data storage became a popular topic in the 21st century, it is not a modern-day idea. Its origins date back to 1964-65 when Mikhail Neiman, a Soviet physicist, published his works in the journal Radiotehnika. Neiman wrote about general considerations regarding the possibility of recording, storage, and retrieval of information on DNA molecules. The physicist explained he had the idea from an interview with Norbert Wiener, an American cybernetic, mathematician, and philosopher, published in 1964.

<i>Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine</i> book by Norbert Wiener

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine is a book written by Norbert Wiener and published in 1948. It is the first public usage of the term "cybernetics" to refer to self-regulating mechanisms. The book laid the theoretical foundation for servomechanisms, automatic navigation, analog computing, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and reliable communications.

This article gives an overview of professional ethics as applied to computer programming and software development, in particular the ethical guidelines that developers are expected to follow and apply when writing programming code, and when they are part of a programmer-customer or employee-employer relationship. These rules shape and differentiate good practices and attitudes from the wrong ones when creating software or when making decisions on a crucial or delicate issue regarding a programming project. They are also the basis for ethical decision-making skills in the conduct of professional work.

Digital civics refers to a range of ethical and responsible civic behaviours, citizenship, or democratic engagement in the digital realm. The term itself is still establishing currency.

References

  1. ↑ Luciano Floridi (1999), Philosophy and Computing: An introduction
  2. ↑ Norbert Wiener (1948), Cybernetics: Or, Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine
  3. ↑ Weintraub, Karen (23 January 2013). "The newest data-storage device? DNA". USA Today. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  4. ↑ Terrel Ward Bynum (2010), "The historical roots of information and computer ethics", The Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics, p. 24
  5. ↑ Terrel Ward Bynum (2010), "The historical roots of information and computer ethics", The Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics, p. 25
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.