claim

active

claim:biology-and-computer-science-are-not-two-different-fields-they-are-both-branches-of-information-science-working-in-distinct-media-with-much-in-common

Biology and computer science are not two different fields; they are both branches of information science, working in distinct media with much in common.

Strong unification claim motivating the proposed new science of embodied computation

Source paper

extracted_from

Living Things Are Not (20th Century) Machines: Updating Mechanism Metaphors in Light of the Modern Science of Machine Behavior

(2021) · Joshua Bongard · Michael Levin

Neighborhood — ranked by edge-count

Claims (1)

claim

An emerging breakdown of disciplinary boundaries suggests merging of information sciences, physics, and biology into a new field whose subject is embodied computation across evolved, designed, and composite media at multiple scales.
supports
Third central claim: biology and computer science are converging into a unified science of embodied computation

Related by similarity (8)

cosine ≥ 0.65 · no typed edge

Entities in the same semantic neighborhood but without a typed relation to this one — candidates for new edges or unrecognized duplicates.

Biology employs a multiscale competency architecture where each level solves problems with some degree of competency in its own problem space.claim0.777
General structural claim about organization of life.
"Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes" – Edsger Dijkstraquote0.771
Used to introduce the section arguing life and machines are both instances of embodied computation in different media
Most biological systems consist of multiple nested selves, not oneclaim0.770
Levin critiques Integrated Information Theory's implication of singular unified self, arguing Scale-Free Cognition requires recognition of nested agents at each organizational level.
DNA, bioelectric fields, and specialized AI hardware blur hardware/software distinctions.claim0.768
Biological and technological systems increasingly manifest properties of both hardware and software simultaneously.
The conceptual distinctions between mind and body are artificial, and developmental biology and behavioral science should be unified.claim0.764
Calls for consilience across disciplines.
Biology embraces a process ontology in which perspectives and agency are primary; change drives intelligence.claim0.764
Concluding synthesis claim.
Agents and their interactions are intrinsic to studying information flow in computation, not peripheral to classical information theory.claim0.761
Central thesis: traditional static information theories fail to capture dynamic interaction necessary for understanding modern computing.
Multiscale systems like those prevalent in biology are capable of organizing into complex patterns, whereas rudimentary language models are challenged by long sequences of outputs.claim0.761
Conclusion about why biology organizes complexity well and flat LLMs do not