Comment added to Carlo Rovelli's paper page.
To All,
In looking at this page it seems to me that there is some confusion about information structuring concepts. There are two general categories of true information. They are structural information and abstract information.
Internal Structural Information is information that is built into and is, therefore, a part of the structure that contains it. It is written into the structure in the form of its construction. An example of this type of information would be the information that is contained within a matter particle. The matter particle contains a sub-energy particle that travels at the speed of light as its basis. A sub-energy particle contains three basic information structures that generate its normal independent operation. First is its current spatial position. Next is its direction of travel from its current position and last is its motion amplitude level that determines how quickly it changes its position. The sub-energy particle only has one independent operation, which is to continually change its position in accordance with the contents of the above mentioned internal informational structures. It can access its current position information and update it to its new location as it changes to a new location. It can read its direction and motion amplitude information to determine where it is to change its position to, but cannot change the contents of those two information structures.
External Structural Information is information elements that are built into two or more structures and are parts of the structures that contain them. It is also written into those structures in the form of their construction. It contains information elements that are only used or changed during an interaction between two or more structures. In the case of sub-energy particle interactions, this would include the ability to change the direction and/or motion amplitude levels of one or more sub-energy particles during an interaction between them. The particles position information cannot be accessed during an interaction, but changes in their direction and motion amplitude information can cause changes to the particle's future position changes.
To build a matter particle, you next need to increase the sub-energy particle's motion amplitude level to be greater than the speed of light. This excess speed is transferred to the particle's fourth dimensional motion. This motion is constructed and behaves the same as the particle's basic linear motion at the speed of light. Its motion amplitude information is variable as is its direction of travel during specific types of interactions. Its change of position works the same as in its linear motion. The fourth dimension is very small, so the motion travels a small distance and then interacts with the end of the dimension. This interaction changes its direction information to the opposite direction, but does not change its motion amplitude because motion cannot transfer into or out of the dimensional boundary. The motion then travels to the other side of the dimension and interacts in the same way with the boundary at the dimension's other end. This creates a cyclical back and forth motion. This motion gives the sub-energy particle the frequency and wavelength wave effects that change it into an energy photon. This motion's motion amplitude information can only be changed during an interaction that would either increase or decrease the sub-energy particle's linear motion amplitude or due to a direct motion transfer to or from this fourth dimensional motion to another entity during an interaction. This motion effectively increases the particle's cross section, thus increasing its probability of experiencing interactions and its angular motion at ninety degrees to its direction of travel gives it a dynamic mass effect such that if the fourth dimensional motion amplitude is great enough it can knock an electron out of an atom in what is called the photoelectric effect, etc. If an interaction causes an energy photon's linear motion amplitude to increase, the increase is transferred to its fourth dimensional motion amplitude and if it causes a decrease in its linear motion amplitude motion amplitude is transferred from its fourth dimensional motion amplitude back into its linear motion amplitude to servo its linear motion amplitude to the speed of light. An increase in a photon's fourth dimensional motion amplitude increases its frequency and decreases its wavelength. It also increases its dynamic mass effect. A decrease causes the opposite effects. Note that going from the lower hierarchical level of construction by adding another motion to it increases the number of information structures in the particle's construction and also increases the complexity of the operation of those information structures both internally and in external interactions. This kind of information increase is sometimes called emergent information. The next hierarchical increase in structural information content requires that the energy photon has an adequately high fourth vector motion amplitude and come in contact with an adequate angular motion source. When this happens, some of its fourth vector motion is transferred to its fifth dimensional motion. This motion travels in an inter-dimensional cyclical pattern. First it travels from the fifth dimension to the lower three dimensions in a cyclical rotating pattern from one dimension to the next with a ninety degree overlap between the first and second, the second and third, and the third and first dimensions. This causes the energy photon to take a repetitive enclosed curved three dimensional path. That enclosed path is a matter particle. The great angular motion thus created gives the matter particle its rest mass. This extra motion would cause its linear motion to exceed the speed of light, but the excess motion is transferred to its fourth vector motion amplitude keeping it at the speed of light. All that survives of its introduction into the lower three dimensions is its angular component that generates the enclosed path structure. If the fourth vector wavelength fits properly into the enclosed curved path the extra motion amplitude is transferred back into the fifth vector motion and the inter-dimensional motion transfer cycle is complete. Notice how the addition of the fifth vector motion not only adds more structural information to accommodate the added motion, but its internal structural information for that new hierarchical motion introduction is much more complex than that for the other motion structures. Both the fourth and fifth vector motion structures also require more structural information connected to the addition of two more dimensional structures. This completes the lowest level of hierarchical structure level.
The next level involves the production of atoms from matter particles and field structures composed of sub-energy particles. This level goes through a much larger hierarchical structural growth from the lowest level hydrogen atom all the way up to the top level of that hierarchical structural level. In this level two of the components of the lowest level (sub-energy particles and matter particles) are combined together. The matter particles provide the main structure of the atom and the sub-energy particles provide the binding structures that allow the matter particles to be held together in the atomic unit. When this happens, new internal and external information usually is produced that is not just the same as that in its components, but new internal information of the atom as a whole is generated that relates to the joining together of its parts in new ways and also in the atoms external interaction information which must also accommodate the new internal structure into its external interaction information structure to allow for new types of interactions, etc.
Then comes the molecular level, which is hierarchically much more expansive than the atomic level in number of and complexity of its internal and external information structures. This type of hierarchical multilevel expansive structuring ability is only produced by living creatures in the output products of the highest level intelligent creature known, namely man. The intelligence contained in the structures of this world is much greater than that which man can produce, however.
The other type of information is abstract information. It is information that is contained in a structure that is not used directly by that structure in its normal internal and external existence operations. A good example of this type of information is the information contained in a DNA molecule that abstractly represents or models some other structure such as a particular protein's structure. Again, man is the only known living creature that produces this type of information about the structure of complex devices and stores it in other structures. A good example of this in a man's device is the memory of a computer that contains complex structural designs to build a complex device. Again, man cannot come close to abstractly modeling the structure and manufacture of a man as is contained in a man's DNA molecules.
To summarize, at the lowest hierarchical structural level both the internal and external information structures are very simple. These get more complex when we: 1. Add new structures that may have existed, but were not used by the lowest level such as another dimension, etc. 2. Add existing components to that new structure like the motion that is added to that new dimension. 3. Addition of new external interaction information structures such as the mechanism that automatically transfers motion between the new dimension and the other original dimensions under certain circumstances. 4. New ways that the complete assembly (energy photon) can interact with other entities, such as the ninety degree angular motion component that is now present for interaction.
Sincerely,
Paul