1.3 Data Selectivity

Raw data are exchanged between and among the various subsystems and

processes of the organism. However, not every piece of data is relevant

or useful to a subsystem or process. There must be some property of the

components of an organism that allows for discrimination or parsing

between relevant and irrelevant data. Once a piece of data has been selected

as useful for a process, it becomes informative for the process; the selected

data ceases to be potentially useful and becomes actual information. Raw

data have the potential to become information, and information can be

understood as data of the kind that have been selected for as useful for a

process or system in an organism. Thus, there are actually three categories

of data, namely, (1) data that are not of the kind that are either useful or

not useful for a subsystem or process, (2) data that are of the kind that are

not useful for a subsystem or process, and (3) data that are of the kind that

are useful for a subsystem or process, namely, information.

The term information can be defi ned in different ways, usually depending

upon the intended goals of a particular intellectual discipline or methodology

employed. Some molecular biologists use the term in the spirit of

Shannon (1948) and Weaver & Shannon’s (1949) information theory to

describe any general communicative process that selects one or more objects

from a set of objects (cf. Sacco, Copes, Sloyer, & Stark, 1988; Schneider,

1986; also the articles in Terzis & Arp, 2008). However, a few more conditions

should be added to this defi nition in order to make it more appropriate

for our discussion.

First, given the molecular biologist’s defi nition, I think it is correct to

say that information entails a selective process. As has been noted already,

it is the selective capacity of the components of an organism that enables

raw data to be considered as information. Consider that there are a multitude

of activities being performed by organelles within the eukaryotic cell.

The plasma membrane is the phospholipid bilayer that acts as the cell’s

shell. In the processes of endocytosis and exocytosis, materials are moved

into and out of the cell through the plasma membrane. However, not just

any material is allowed into or out of the cell. There must be some mechanism

of discrimination employed in these processes so that the correct

kinds of organic molecules come into the cell as nutrients, and the correct

kinds of organic molecules get expelled as wastes. The data being exchanged

in both cases are organic molecules. However, the cell processes can discriminate

and select which molecules are useful and which molecules are

harmful.

Second, these molecular biologists describe information as a communicative

process. This seems correct, as information is a kind of medium

between, on the one hand, something doing the communicating and, on

the other hand, something doing the receiving in some environment. In

other words, communication of information entails that there be some

kind of afferent entity and some kind of efferent entity, as well as some

kind of environment, in which this communication can occur. Insofar as

this is the case, information can be considered as a communication on the

part of some afferent entity (the communicator) that causes some kind of

a change or modifi cation in the efferent entity (the receiver) in an environment,

infl uencing the subsequent activity of the efferent entity. Using our

example of the eukaryotic cell, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen molecules

(the communicator) pass by the plasma membrane (the receiver) and can

be understood as informative and incorporated into the body of the cell

as energy (the infl uence). Conversely, organic molecules that are expelled

as wastes by cell A (the communicator) can be understood as informative

for nearby cell B (the receiver), to the extent that cell B does not intake

cell A’s waste (the infl uence).

Third, it would seem that some kind of storage or imprinting mechanism

would need to exist in the receiver, even if this storage were to endure for

only a short amount of time. Such a storage mechanism is necessary so

that the information actually can be infl uential for the efferent entity. For

example, when a cell divides in two during cellular mitosis, the offspring

cell receives the genetic information from its parent cell. The genetic information

from an initial parent cell (or parent cells) is housed in every one

of the cells of a multicellular organism. This is why it is that biologists like

Gould (2002) and Dawkins (1976) can refer to organisms as “genetic information

houses.” If that information from the parent cell was not stored

somehow in the nucleolus of the offspring cell, then the offspring cell

could not continue to pass on genetic information in its own process of

mitosis.

Finally, afferent entities have the potential to become efferent entities,

although not in exactly the same respect, and vice versa: cells are generated

by mitosis but then generate their own mitosis, the plasma membrane

takes in but then expels organic molecules, the medulla of the brain

receives messages from and then sends messages to the heart and lungs, and drone bees perceive that food is present through the use of the visual

system and then communicate this information to the rest of the hive by

visual means. Organisms operate in such a way that information can be

readily communicated and accepted by the same systems, processes, and

traits. In this sense, there is a certain malleability or fl exibility to be found

in the subsystems and processes of an organism. Having both defi ned

information and described the conditions concerning information

exchange, we now can give a few more examples of this kind of activity

in organisms.

Example 1 Successful gene transfer in reproduction entails that genetic

information is passed along from parent organism to offspring organism.

The parent organism acts as the communicator, and the offspring as

receiver. The genetic code is the information that is communicated from

parent to organism. The offspring is affected by this genetic information,

since such information determines the offspring’s structure and activity.

The genetic information is stored in the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

located in the nucleus of the cell and, in conjunction with environmental

factors, continually shapes the structure and activity of the organism

throughout its life span (Audesirk et al., 2002; Mayr, 1997; Voet, Voet, &

Pratt, 2002; Campbell & Reece, 1999).

Example 2 When a neuron produces an action potential—colloquially,

when it fi res—information associated with spiking signals is communicated

between that neuron and at least one other neuron. The axon of one

neuron, A, acts as a communicator, and the dendrites of another neuron,

B—to which the axon of neuron A is connected—acts as a receiver. Protein

synthesis in neurotransmitter release is the information that is communicated

between neurons. Depending on the amount and intensity of the

neurotransmitter emitted from the communicator neuron, the receiver

neuron may become excitatory, making it more likely to produce its own

action potential. Networks of neurons can fi re more quickly when they are

used more frequently, as if the information associated with the particular

network’s fi ring has been stored. The complex interworkings of trillions of

these connections throughout an animal with a complex nervous system

enable it to fi ght, fl ee, forage, feast, and so on (Kandel, Schwartz, & Jessell,

2000; Felleman & van Essen, 1991; Crick, 1994).

Example 3 Cells use energy, and one of the primary functions of the

mitochondrion of an animal cell is to produce energy for the cell by converting

sugars into a nucleic acid called adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

However, this can happen only if there is a line of communication between other organelles of the cell and the mitochondria themselves. ATP acts as

the material catalyst of information communicated between mitochondria

and other organelles. When there are low levels of ATP, the mitochondria

receive this information and convert more sugars; conversely, when sugars

are converted, the other organelles receive this information and cellular

homeostasis can be maintained (Audesirk et al., 2002; Voet et al., 2002;

Campbell & Reece, 1999).

Example 4 A clear illustration of the communication of information in a

systemic fashion is a mammal’s muscle coordination in a refl ex arc. In this

activity, information is communicated to and from the spinal cord and a

particular muscle group of the body (Kandel et al., 2000; Pelligrino, Fadiga,

Fogassi, Gallese, & Rizzolatti, 1996). Consider a situation where a very

curious cat decides to jump atop a very hot stove. The intense motion of

the molecules from the stovetop is impressed upon the pads of the cat’s

paws. That motion affects the sensory neurons in the cat’s skin, causing

them to fi re. The sensory neurons send a message to the interneurons

and, in turn, a message is sent through motor neurons to the spinal cord.

These messages consist of billions of action potentials and neurotransmitter

releases, affecting cell after cell along the pathway of this particular

refl ex arc. In an instant, the spinal cord then sends a message back to the

muscle groups associated with the cat’s legs, diaphragm, and back. In a

fl ash, the cat jumps off the stove and screams while arching its back.

However, now the cat must coordinate its fall to the ground. This time,

information is sent from the visual system to the brain and then back

through the spinal cord to other muscles in the cat’s body. All of this

information must be integrated by the brain and motor responses must be

orchestrated by the combined effort of brain–body communication of

information. The cat narrowly avoids falling into the garbage can placed

next to the stove.

We can now be more precise concerning the kind of activities in which

organisms are engaged. This fourth example not only helps to demonstrate

how information is communicated in organisms but also serves to bolster

the claim that organisms are hierarchically organized systems of information

exchange. This is so because information must fl ow between the subsystems

of the organism, as well as within the particularized processes of

the subsystems themselves, in order for an organized expression of the

organism’s activity to take place. Our curious cat utilized—at least—the

endocrine, nervous, muscular, respiratory, skeletal, and visual subsystems

in its body while jumping, screaming, and negotiating space. Similarly, for a euglena, there must be a fl ow of information between eyespot and fl agellum

in food acquisition, just as there must be a fl ow of information

between chloroplasts and plastids in food storage.

Raw data are exchanged between and among the various subsystems and

processes of the organism. However, not every piece of data is relevant

or useful to a subsystem or process. There must be some property of the

components of an organism that allows for discrimination or parsing

between relevant and irrelevant data. Once a piece of data has been selected

as useful for a process, it becomes informative for the process; the selected

data ceases to be potentially useful and becomes actual information. Raw

data have the potential to become information, and information can be

understood as data of the kind that have been selected for as useful for a

process or system in an organism. Thus, there are actually three categories

of data, namely, (1) data that are not of the kind that are either useful or

not useful for a subsystem or process, (2) data that are of the kind that are

not useful for a subsystem or process, and (3) data that are of the kind that

are useful for a subsystem or process, namely, information.

The term information can be defi ned in different ways, usually depending

upon the intended goals of a particular intellectual discipline or methodology

employed. Some molecular biologists use the term in the spirit of

Shannon (1948) and Weaver & Shannon’s (1949) information theory to

describe any general communicative process that selects one or more objects

from a set of objects (cf. Sacco, Copes, Sloyer, & Stark, 1988; Schneider,

1986; also the articles in Terzis & Arp, 2008). However, a few more conditions

should be added to this defi nition in order to make it more appropriate

for our discussion.

First, given the molecular biologist’s defi nition, I think it is correct to

say that information entails a selective process. As has been noted already,

it is the selective capacity of the components of an organism that enables

raw data to be considered as information. Consider that there are a multitude

of activities being performed by organelles within the eukaryotic cell.

The plasma membrane is the phospholipid bilayer that acts as the cell’s

shell. In the processes of endocytosis and exocytosis, materials are moved

into and out of the cell through the plasma membrane. However, not just

any material is allowed into or out of the cell. There must be some mechanism

of discrimination employed in these processes so that the correct

kinds of organic molecules come into the cell as nutrients, and the correct

kinds of organic molecules get expelled as wastes. The data being exchanged

in both cases are organic molecules. However, the cell processes can discriminate

and select which molecules are useful and which molecules are

harmful.

Second, these molecular biologists describe information as a communicative

process. This seems correct, as information is a kind of medium

between, on the one hand, something doing the communicating and, on

the other hand, something doing the receiving in some environment. In

other words, communication of information entails that there be some

kind of afferent entity and some kind of efferent entity, as well as some

kind of environment, in which this communication can occur. Insofar as

this is the case, information can be considered as a communication on the

part of some afferent entity (the communicator) that causes some kind of

a change or modifi cation in the efferent entity (the receiver) in an environment,

infl uencing the subsequent activity of the efferent entity. Using our

example of the eukaryotic cell, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen molecules

(the communicator) pass by the plasma membrane (the receiver) and can

be understood as informative and incorporated into the body of the cell

as energy (the infl uence). Conversely, organic molecules that are expelled

as wastes by cell A (the communicator) can be understood as informative

for nearby cell B (the receiver), to the extent that cell B does not intake

cell A’s waste (the infl uence).

Third, it would seem that some kind of storage or imprinting mechanism

would need to exist in the receiver, even if this storage were to endure for

only a short amount of time. Such a storage mechanism is necessary so

that the information actually can be infl uential for the efferent entity. For

example, when a cell divides in two during cellular mitosis, the offspring

cell receives the genetic information from its parent cell. The genetic information

from an initial parent cell (or parent cells) is housed in every one

of the cells of a multicellular organism. This is why it is that biologists like

Gould (2002) and Dawkins (1976) can refer to organisms as “genetic information

houses.” If that information from the parent cell was not stored

somehow in the nucleolus of the offspring cell, then the offspring cell

could not continue to pass on genetic information in its own process of

mitosis.

Finally, afferent entities have the potential to become efferent entities,

although not in exactly the same respect, and vice versa: cells are generated

by mitosis but then generate their own mitosis, the plasma membrane

takes in but then expels organic molecules, the medulla of the brain

receives messages from and then sends messages to the heart and lungs, and drone bees perceive that food is present through the use of the visual

system and then communicate this information to the rest of the hive by

visual means. Organisms operate in such a way that information can be

readily communicated and accepted by the same systems, processes, and

traits. In this sense, there is a certain malleability or fl exibility to be found

in the subsystems and processes of an organism. Having both defi ned

information and described the conditions concerning information

exchange, we now can give a few more examples of this kind of activity

in organisms.

Example 1 Successful gene transfer in reproduction entails that genetic

information is passed along from parent organism to offspring organism.

The parent organism acts as the communicator, and the offspring as

receiver. The genetic code is the information that is communicated from

parent to organism. The offspring is affected by this genetic information,

since such information determines the offspring’s structure and activity.

The genetic information is stored in the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

located in the nucleus of the cell and, in conjunction with environmental

factors, continually shapes the structure and activity of the organism

throughout its life span (Audesirk et al., 2002; Mayr, 1997; Voet, Voet, &

Pratt, 2002; Campbell & Reece, 1999).

Example 2 When a neuron produces an action potential—colloquially,

when it fi res—information associated with spiking signals is communicated

between that neuron and at least one other neuron. The axon of one

neuron, A, acts as a communicator, and the dendrites of another neuron,

B—to which the axon of neuron A is connected—acts as a receiver. Protein

synthesis in neurotransmitter release is the information that is communicated

between neurons. Depending on the amount and intensity of the

neurotransmitter emitted from the communicator neuron, the receiver

neuron may become excitatory, making it more likely to produce its own

action potential. Networks of neurons can fi re more quickly when they are

used more frequently, as if the information associated with the particular

network’s fi ring has been stored. The complex interworkings of trillions of

these connections throughout an animal with a complex nervous system

enable it to fi ght, fl ee, forage, feast, and so on (Kandel, Schwartz, & Jessell,

2000; Felleman & van Essen, 1991; Crick, 1994).

Example 3 Cells use energy, and one of the primary functions of the

mitochondrion of an animal cell is to produce energy for the cell by converting

sugars into a nucleic acid called adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

However, this can happen only if there is a line of communication between other organelles of the cell and the mitochondria themselves. ATP acts as

the material catalyst of information communicated between mitochondria

and other organelles. When there are low levels of ATP, the mitochondria

receive this information and convert more sugars; conversely, when sugars

are converted, the other organelles receive this information and cellular

homeostasis can be maintained (Audesirk et al., 2002; Voet et al., 2002;

Campbell & Reece, 1999).

Example 4 A clear illustration of the communication of information in a

systemic fashion is a mammal’s muscle coordination in a refl ex arc. In this

activity, information is communicated to and from the spinal cord and a

particular muscle group of the body (Kandel et al., 2000; Pelligrino, Fadiga,

Fogassi, Gallese, & Rizzolatti, 1996). Consider a situation where a very

curious cat decides to jump atop a very hot stove. The intense motion of

the molecules from the stovetop is impressed upon the pads of the cat’s

paws. That motion affects the sensory neurons in the cat’s skin, causing

them to fi re. The sensory neurons send a message to the interneurons

and, in turn, a message is sent through motor neurons to the spinal cord.

These messages consist of billions of action potentials and neurotransmitter

releases, affecting cell after cell along the pathway of this particular

refl ex arc. In an instant, the spinal cord then sends a message back to the

muscle groups associated with the cat’s legs, diaphragm, and back. In a

fl ash, the cat jumps off the stove and screams while arching its back.

However, now the cat must coordinate its fall to the ground. This time,

information is sent from the visual system to the brain and then back

through the spinal cord to other muscles in the cat’s body. All of this

information must be integrated by the brain and motor responses must be

orchestrated by the combined effort of brain–body communication of

information. The cat narrowly avoids falling into the garbage can placed

next to the stove.

We can now be more precise concerning the kind of activities in which

organisms are engaged. This fourth example not only helps to demonstrate

how information is communicated in organisms but also serves to bolster

the claim that organisms are hierarchically organized systems of information

exchange. This is so because information must fl ow between the subsystems

of the organism, as well as within the particularized processes of

the subsystems themselves, in order for an organized expression of the

organism’s activity to take place. Our curious cat utilized—at least—the

endocrine, nervous, muscular, respiratory, skeletal, and visual subsystems

in its body while jumping, screaming, and negotiating space. Similarly, for a euglena, there must be a fl ow of information between eyespot and fl agellum

in food acquisition, just as there must be a fl ow of information

between chloroplasts and plastids in food storage.