Re: I've also read Spetner's book

mortongr@flash.net
Wed, 15 Sep 1999 22:36:28 +0000

At 02:53 PM 09/15/1999 -0700, Arthur V. Chadwick wrote:
>At 09:56 PM 09/14/1999 -0400, Tim wrote:
>
>>Although it may seem trivial, the easiest example of demonstrating
>>that a *single* point mutation can "result in an increase in genomic
>>information" (Spetner's definition, not mine), is a reverse-mutation,
>>which converts a mutated base in a non-functional gene back to the
>>original base. After all, if a point mutation which wipes out the
>>function of a gene is described as losing information, how would we
>>describe a reverse-mutation which perfectly restores the original
>>sequence?
>
>That does not qualify as a gain in information, and you know that.
>If the information is already present, deleting then restoring it is not
>what anybody means by an increase in information.

Art, It is what I mean by an information increase and it would most
certainly fit the description of an informational increase provided by
information theory--the theory which I use to process seismic data and
which is used by EE's all over the world. Numerically if you take H, the
information of a DNA sequence and mutate it in such a way that H is
lowered, and then reverse it, the reversal increases H.

Producing the system
>necessary to convert a reptilian scale into an avian feather involves an
>increase in information of the system.

Define that type of information mathematically? What you are trying to do
is have a theory of specificity which has not yet been developed and in
which the founders of info theory say is impossible.

All the arm-waving in the world
>will not provide a cogent explanation for such an increase in information.

And Art, neither will the use of the word 'information' in a non-technical
sense answer the problem. To claim an increase in information one must be
able to quantify the info he has. You can't do it with that loose
terminology.

Unfortunately, I will be offline for the next week and a half and will be
unable to respond to any reply.

glenn

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