Order, Complexity and Information

Order and Complexity in view of Information

Order and Complexity have been used almost synonymously in this concept of gravitationally induced order throughout the universe; and though they are not quite the same, rightfully so.

What has been missing is that order and complexity convey information.

And this plays into the concept of entropy vs. negentropy (or negative entropy, which, again, does not exist; what is meant is less entropy.)

1.    One manifestation or concept of entropy is that of disorder; ergo, the opposite, negative entropy, manifests itself as negative disorder, less disorder or, simply, order.

2.    Another concept describes negative entropy as a measure of the information content of a system; the more entropy a system expresses, the less information it contains:

Maximum disorder is maximum disorder.

Maximum order is maximum order (which is far more difficult to express or assert).

Comparing two identical heaps of children's building blocks - or atoms (and we will stay on that level, as the makeup of plastic and color is irrelevant to the problem) - both of which are in the same state of disorder, having been run through several cycles of (thermodynamic) mixing, the state of both heaps can be declared to have an information content of zero in comparison (i. e., the two are indistinguishable).

Of course, this is not strictly true, as any picture comparison will show; however, the differences are purely random, and one heap will not yield any more information than the other; both have the same number of particles, and whatever colors (or shapes and sizes) surround a certain block is indeterminable without looking.

Now, introducing order by separating these particles into separate heaps according to color (or shape, size, weight…) introduces several levels of information; such as, how many differences there are at all, according to the chosen criterion, and how many blocks there are of each; and, surprisingly enough, that information is universal or transferable - if the two heaps are sufficiently similar, that information, gleaned from the sorted heap, can be used to infer that the same information be valid for the untreated heap.

By inducing a higher level of order (or negative entropy) into one system, a higher level of information is available for every similar system throughout the cosmos: for instance, by looking at the gravitationally induced order of the solar system, we assume, automatically, that any stellar system in any galaxy in the universe, comprised of similar elements, will show a similar, if not identical kind of arrangement; we assume, furthermore, that stars and planets generally will be spheres, and not cubes; and so on.

Now, we can introduce ever more higher levels of order, by not only sorting the building blocks into separate heaps according to color, but by separating them further into subheaps of shape, size, and weight; or whatever else comes to mind (or, in a greater context, is affected by gravity and other factors and forces playing into the sorting process, such as viscosity of the surroundings, etc.); and we can even arrange theses subheaps in a certain sequence, such as according to color wavelength or other criteria.

We could also, on the other hand, use the sorted building blocks to actually build any randomized or predetermined construction, i. e. fix their location in relation to each other; and again, if the random heaps of material we started from are sufficiently similar (or indeed identical), the information gleaned from one heap can be transferred to the second one-on-one, either by simply and justifiably assuming it to be so, or by actually physically copying one pattern onto the other.

Nothing else is done by biological body cells.

From this, one can argue that introducing order (or negative entropy) into a system, predominantly by separation (for even for the combination of two elements these have first to be separated from the others), complexity is introduced; and with that, information.

A house, built of different materials, holds untold amounts of information (this is wood; this is mortar; it separates and binds two or more bricks in a certain, repetitive pattern, which will change according to need), and meta- information (this is a window; this is a door; this is a corridor separating and connecting two rooms; in fact, these are rooms, built to purpose a, b, and c…), as well as arbitrary information (this wall was painted green).

Reducing that house to rubble (i. e. throwing its elements into an entropic disarray) destroys almost every bit of information contained in its former array or (negentropic) order. And grinding these elements into a dust and blending this dust into a single, indistinguishable heap will destroy even more information.

Strangely enough, a similar house standing nearby, undemolished, will still contain, and retain, most of the information which has been lost forever in the thermodynamically created dustheap.

And, arguably, any uniform heap of dust has an extremely low degree of complexity; the house it once represented had a far higher one (which furthermore can be enhanced almost indefinitely, by, individually or collectively, having it filled with furniture and other content).

Of course, in this case, both the construction and destruction were willful thermodynamic acts, and therefore enhanced entropy overall within the meta-system.

However, it shows that "negative" or low entropy, enhanced order, complexity, and high information content go hand in hand; and therefore, so do high entropy, less order, low complexity, and minimal information.

And, as has been argued here, "negative" or low entropy, enhanced order and higher complexity can be induced into any material system from within through the singular and monopolar force of gravity; and therefore, information.

This process of information building begins with the formation of separate stars within a primary, almost informationless cloud of hydrogen; and does not end with two separate, singularly complex body cells communicating (i. e. sending and receiving information) with the help of ordered chemicals or ordered pulses of energy.

For indeed, ordered they must be, for that body to be termed healthy - or even alive.

And, in every single case, the origin of that order, complexity and information can be traced, eventually, to a an act of gravity (or an, if interrupted, series of gravitational processes).