Information in inanimate nature: examples

Is there information in the inanimate nature, if one does not take into account the various techniques created by man? The answer to this question depends on the definition of the concept itself. The meaning of the term "information" throughout the history of mankind has been repeatedly supplemented. The definition had an impact on the development of scientific thought, the progress of technology and the experience accumulated over centuries. Information in non-living nature is possible if we consider this phenomenon from the point of view of general terminology.

One of the options for defining the concept

Information in the narrow sense is a message transmitted in the form of a signal from person to person, from person to machine or from machine to machine, and also in plant and animal world from individual to individual. With this approach, its existence is possible only in living nature or in socio-technical systems. These include, among other things, such examples of information in inanimate nature in archeology, as rock paintings, clay tablets and so on. The information carrier in this case is an object that is clearly not related to living matter or to technology, but without the help of the same person, the data would not be recorded and preserved.

Subjective approach

There is one more way of determining: information is subjective by nature and arises only in the mind of a person, when he gives objects, events, and so on surrounding him with a certain meaning. This idea has interesting logical consequences. It turns out that if there are no people, there is no information, data and messages anywhere, including information in inanimate nature. Informatics in this variant of definition becomes a science about a subjective, but not a real world. However, we will not dig deep into this topic.

General Definition

In philosophy, information is defined as an intangible form of motion. It is inherent in any object, since it has a certain meaning. Not far from this definition, the physical understanding of the term also goes away.

One of the basic concepts in the scientific picture of the world is energy. It exchanges all material objects, and constantly. Changing the initial state of one of them causes a change in the other. In physics, such a process is regarded as a signal transmission. The signal, in fact, is also a message transmitted by one subject and received by another. This is information. According to a similar definition, the answer to the question asked at the beginning of the article is unequivocally positive. Information in non-living nature is a variety of signals transmitted from one object to another.

The second law of thermodynamics

A shorter and more precise definition: information is a measure of the orderliness of the system. Here it is worth remembering one of the basic physical laws. According to the second law of thermodynamics, closed systems (these are those that do not interact in any way with the environment) always go from an ordered state to a chaotic state. For example, let's conduct a thought experiment: put in one half of a closed vessel a gas. After some time, he will fill all the provided volume, that is, he will cease to be ordered to the extent that he was. At the same time, information in the system will decrease, since it is a measure of order.

Information and entropy

It is worth noting that in the modern understanding the universe is not a closed system. It is characterized by the processes of complexity of the structure, accompanied by an increase in orderliness, and hence, the amount of information. According to the theory of the Big Bang, it was so since the formation of the universe. Elementary particles first appeared, then molecules and larger compounds. Later, stars began to form. All these processes are characterized by the ordering of structural elements.

Predicting the future of the universe is closely related to these nuances. According to the second law of thermodynamics, thermal death awaits it as a result of an increase in entropy, a magnitude opposite to information. It can be defined as a measure of the disorder of the system. The second law of thermodynamics says that entropy always grows in closed systems. However, modern knowledge can not give an accurate answer to the question of how applicable it is to the entire universe.

Features of information processes in inanimate nature in a closed system

All examples of information in inanimate nature are united by common features. This is a one-step process, the absence of a target, the loss of quantity in the source as it increases in the receiver. Let us consider these properties in more detail.

Information in inanimate nature is a measure of freedom of energy. In other words, it characterizes the system's ability to complete work. In the absence of external influences, an irreversible loss of free energy, and with it information, takes place every time a chemical, electromagnetic, mechanical or other work is performed.

Features of information processes in inanimate nature in an open system

With external influence, some system can get information or a part of it lost by another system. In this case, the first will be the amount of free energy, sufficient to complete the work. A good example is the magnetization of so-called ferromagnets (substances capable of being magnetized under certain conditions in the absence of an external magnetic field). They acquire a similar property as a result of lightning or in the presence of other magnets. Magnetization becomes a physical expression of the system's acquisition of a certain amount of information. The work in this example will be performed by a magnetic field. Information processes in this case are single-stage and have no purpose. The latter property more than others distinguishes them from similar phenomena in living nature. Separate fragments, for example, of the magnetization process do not pursue any global goals. In the case of living matter, such an aim is - it is the synthesis of a biochemical product, the transfer of hereditary material, and so on.

Law of non-increase of information

Another feature of the transmission of information in inanimate nature is that the increase in information in the receiver is always accompanied by the loss of information in the source. That is, in a system without external influence, the amount of information never increases. This position is a consequence of the law of nondecreasing entropy.

It should be noted that some scientists consider information and entropy as identical concepts with the opposite sign. The first is a measure of the orderliness of the system, and the second is a randomness. From this point of view, information becomes negative entropy. However, not all researchers of the problem adhere to this opinion. In addition, it is necessary to distinguish between thermodynamic and informational entropy. They are part of different scientific knowledge (physics and information theory, respectively).

Information in the microcosm

Studying the topic "Information in inanimate nature" grade 8 school. At this point, students are still little familiar with quantum theory in physics. However, they already know that material objects can be divided into macro- and microcosms. The latter is a level of matter where there are electrons, protons, neutrons and other particles. Here the laws of classical physics are often inapplicable. Meanwhile, information exists in the microcosm.

We will not go into quantum theory, but there are several points worth noting. In the microcosm as such, there is no entropy. However, at this level, in the interaction of particles, there are losses of free energy, the same that is necessary for the performance of work by any system and the measure of which is information. If free energy is reduced, information decreases. That is, in the microcosm the law of non-increase of information is also observed.

Living and inanimate nature

Any examples of information in inanimate nature, in computer science studied in the eighth class and not related to technology, are combined by the absence of a goal to achieve which information is stored, processed and transmitted. For living matter, everything is different. In the case of living organisms, there is a primary goal and intermediate. As a result, the entire process of obtaining, processing, transferring and storing information is necessary for the transfer of hereditary material to descendants. Intermediate goals are to preserve it through a variety of biochemical and behavioral reactions, which include, for example, maintenance of homeostasis and orientation behavior.

Examples of information in inanimate nature indicate the absence of such properties. Homeostasis, by the way, minimizes the consequences of the law of nonincrease of information, which leads to the destruction of the object. The presence or absence of the described goals is one of the main differences between animate and inanimate nature.

So, you can find a lot of examples on the topic "information in inanimate nature": pictures on the walls of ancient caves, computer work, crystal growth of rock crystal and so on. However, if you do not take into account the information created by a person (various images and the like) and technique, objects of inanimate nature differ greatly in the properties of information processes that occur in them. Let's enumerate them once more: one-step, irreversibility, lack of purpose, inevitable loss of information in the source when it is transferred to the receiver. Information in inanimate nature is defined as a measure of the orderliness of the system. In a closed system, in the absence of an external influence of one kind or another, the law of nonincreasing information is observed.