The Process of Life: A Designed Semantic Information Process

At the most fundamental level, life is a semantic information process: requiring semantic information to perform a multitude of operations. The process of life, for which we have yet to discover a natural origin, utilizes encoded data structures, encapsulation, interfacing, and polymorphic data types, to perform operations of abstract instantiation. It is through these instantiation mechanisms that life develops across time. Life as a process inherently has an inception, proceeded by various purposeful stages that must be achieved throughout course, and finally, a culmination which brings the process to a terminal conclusion.

Semantic information is often characterized as functional, purposeful, or meaningful. These terms are used to distinguish semantic information from quantum information: the arbitrary arrangement or position of things. We know that the information for life is semantic because it is encoded, it can be parsed, and it is used to instantiate organized structures providing functionality. This fact reveals a remarkable phenomena: the information for life is encoded in such a way as to allow autonomous continuation, while also being discernable by rational minds. It is not immediately evident that an arbitrary process could produce such an information system. So the information for life is functional, and likewise purposeful, not arbitrary by any means.

Living processes follow the above mentioned design methodologies: encoded data sets, encapsulation, interfacing, polymorphic data types, templates, and protocols. These design methodologies are just for the information systems, and says nothing about the tremendous complexity of the physical systems. It is from the fact that life follows these design methodologies we can say, without any doubt, that life is a designed process. This is not just a rationale conclusion, but is perhaps the only rationale conclusion. To observe a designed process, and then say it is not designed is irrational. If an explanation for the origin of life has to at first negate what is obviously true, then it is probably not a rationale explanation.

Life is also a dynamic template system, because it uses previously created instances to produce new unique instances. Unique being the important characteristic here, because an arbitrary process would not necessarily produce unique instances: an arbitrary process is just as likely to create exact instances as it is to create unique instances. So there is a protocol within the instantiation mechanisms enforcing the creation of unique instances. This is evidently clear when comparing identical twins. While having the exact same genotype, and looking remarkably similar, identical twins actually express differing phenotypes.