Information and Physical Laws
Random action cannot put nucleons or chemical elements or nucleotides together in any arbitrary way at all. The laws of physics and chemistry prohibit certain combinations. Did information then arise from the laws of physics and chemistry? No, laws only forbid. Laws do not direct.
If you want to drive home from work across the city, you have to follow the streets and roads. City ordinances may forbid you to drive in certain directions on certain streets, and buildings or fences may prevent your car from going diagonally across city blocks. Even if you are obeying the law and driving only where it is possible for your car to go, you won’t necessarily get home. A map shows where you can drive, but you have to choose your destination and your route for getting from your starting place. Your choice should be consistent with the laws, but it doesn’t come from them automatically unless there is only one way to get home.
Books in English follow rules for spelling and grammar. These days those rules are programmed into word processors. If the laws of physics and chemistry created information before there was intelligence, then we should also be able to write books by pressing a button and letting the rules fill the book with information. There are many books that follow the same rules but some of them blatantly contradict others. Contradictory books cannot all be right. Therefore laws and rules do not create information.
If you want to drive home from work across the city, you have to follow the streets and roads. City ordinances may forbid you to drive in certain directions on certain streets, and buildings or fences may prevent your car from going diagonally across city blocks. Even if you are obeying the law and driving only where it is possible for your car to go, you won’t necessarily get home. A map shows where you can drive, but you have to choose your destination and your route for getting from your starting place. Your choice should be consistent with the laws, but it doesn’t come from them automatically unless there is only one way to get home.
Books in English follow rules for spelling and grammar. These days those rules are programmed into word processors. If the laws of physics and chemistry created information before there was intelligence, then we should also be able to write books by pressing a button and letting the rules fill the book with information. There are many books that follow the same rules but some of them blatantly contradict others. Contradictory books cannot all be right. Therefore laws and rules do not create information.
