Info-computationalism and Morphological Computing of Informational Structure

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1st Annual Conference on Integral Biomathics,Stirling University, Scotland, 29-31 August 2011
Info-computationalism and Morphological Computing of
Informational Structure
Gordana Dodig Crnkovic
Gordana
Dodig
Crnkovic
School of Innovation, Design and Engineering, Mälardalen University, Sweden
http://www.inbiosa.eu/en/Workshops-And-Conferences-View.html?article=acib-11

What is Universe? What is Knowledge? What is Science?
Based on an enormous boost of extended mind of humanity we witness a major
p
aradi
g
m shift in our understandin
g
of the universe and our
p
lace in it.
pg g p
This big picture is important
as it sets the framework
as
it
sets
the
framework
for how we think.
That is why not only theory
of particular sciences
or specific phenomena
but even philosophy of nature
makes
makes
.
(And empirical data are as well known theory-laden, even by implicit theory)

Historical Development: The Mytho-Poetic Universe
In ancient Egypt the dome of the sky was represented by the goddess Nut, the
night sky, and the sun, the god Ra, was born from her every morning.
In Hindu myth, the tortoise supports elephants that hold up the world, and everything
is encircled by the world serpent.
There are numbers of similar myths of creation
in ancient times, and even old Greeks
had corresponding mythological explanations.

Greek Natural Philosophy – Protoscience
Anaximander of Miletus (c. 610 -c. 546 bc) a pupil of Thales, and as other members of the
Ionian School, he was an early scientist. He constructed the first geometrical model of the
universe, and made maps of the earth and the skies. He said that the arche ('beginning and
basis') of existing things is an apeiron ('limitless') nature of some kind, from which come the
heavens and the kosmos ('world order').
Anaximander advocated the idea of biological evolution with human beings, like other
animals evolved from fish
animals
,
evolved
from
fish
.
Anaximander was the author of the first written work of philosophy in ancient Greece, On
Nature, which has been lost. His philosophy was a natural dialectics.

The Mechanical Universe
The Clockwork Universe The Clockwork Universe
The Geocentric Universe
Newton
Philosophiae
Naturalis
The universe depicted in
The
Newton
Philosophiae
Naturalis
Principia Matematica, 1687
The
universe
depicted
in
The
Nuremberg Chronicle (1493)

The Computational Universe
Konrad Zuse was the first to suggest (in 1967) that the physical behavior of the entire
universe is being computed on a basic level, possibly on cellular automata, by the
universe itself which he referred to as "Rechnender Raum" or Computing Space/Cosmos.
Computationalists: Zuse, Wiener, Fredkin, Wolfram, Chaitin, Lloyd, Seife, 't Hooft,
Deutsch Tegmark
Schmidhuber
Weizsäcker
Wheeler
Deutsch
,
Tegmark
,
Schmidhuber
,
Weizsäcker
,
Wheeler
..
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www nature com/nsu/020527/020527
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http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v435/n7042/full/435572a.html
htt
p:
//
www
.
nature
.
com/nsu/020527/020527
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html

Three Major Paradigm Shifts
Info-Computational
Human-Centric
Universe
(Classical)
Mechanic
Universe
Mytho-poetic,
God-Centric
Universe
Universe
Universe
Universe
Dodig-Crnkovic G and Müller V,
A
Dialogue Concerning Two World Systems: Info-Computational vs. Mechanistic.
In: INFORMATION AND COMPUTATION , World Scientific Publishing Co. Series in Information Studies. Editors:
G Dodig-Crnkovic and M Burgin, 2011. http://arxiv.org/abs/0910.5001 2009

Natural Philosophy
Natural philosophy (
Philosophia
Naturalis
) is a study of nature and the physical universe
Natural
philosophy
(
Philosophia
Naturalis
)
is
a
study
of
nature
and
the
physical
universe
that was dominant before the development of modern science in the 19th century.
Newton was natural philosopher. At older universities, long-established Chairs of
Natural Philosophy are nowadays occupied mainly by physics professors. *
At present, interesting complexity phenomena are studied on the intersection of several
research fields such as computing, biology, neuroscience, cognitive science,
philosophy physics and similar information/computation intensive fields which might
philosophy
,
physics
,
and
similar
information/computation
intensive
fields
which
might
again form a core of a new life-centric natural philosophy, which will include human as
natural being.
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_philosophy

Information as a Fabric of Reality
According to Bateson, Information is the difference that makes a difference. Informational
ttlRli (FlidiS ) thtif tithfbif lit
s
t
ruc
t
ura
l
R
ea
li
sm
(Fl
or
idi
,
S
ayre
)
argues
th
a
t
i
n
f
orma
ti
on
th
e
f
a
b
r
i
c o
f
rea
lit
y.
“
It is tempting to suppose that some concept of information could serve eventually
It
is
tempting
to
suppose
that
some
concept
of
information
could
serve
eventually
to unify mind, matter, and meaning in a single theory.”
Daniel C. Dennett And John Haugeland. Intentionality. in Richard L. Gregory, Editor. The
Oxford Companion To The Mind. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1987.

Information in the World
Philosophy of Information (Van Benthem and
Philosophy
of
Information
(Van
Benthem
and
Adriaans, 2008), part of the Handbook of the
philosophy of science. http://www.illc.uva.nl/HPI/
shows clearl
y
p
romises and confusions of the nascent
yp
field which takes form because of the vacuum in both
Information Science and the Philosophy of Information
Science.
http://www.sdsc.edu/News%20Items/PR022008_moma.html The Internet

Structure vs. Process
As we can observe, structures in the world constantly change.
The knowledge of structures is half a story.
The other half is understanding processes, dynamics.
In a classical formulation: being and becoming.

Info-computationalism
Information and computation are two interrelated and mutually
defining phenomena – there is no computation without information
(computation understood as information processing) and vice
(computation
understood
as
information
processing)
,
and
vice
versa, there is no information without computation (all information is
a result of computational processes).
Being interconnected, information is studied as a structure, while
computation presents a process on an informational structure. In
order to learn about foundations of information, we must also study
tti
compu
t
a
ti
on.

Computation
The Computing Universe: Pancomputationalism
Computation is generally defined as information processing.
(See Burgin, M., Super-Recursive Algorithms, Springer Monographs in
Com
p
uter Science
,
2005
)
p,)
For different views see e.g.
http://people pwf cam ac uk/mds26/cogsci/program html Computation and
http://people
.
pwf
.
cam
.
ac
.
uk/mds26/cogsci/program
.
html
Computation
and
Cognitive Science 7–8 July 2008, King's College Cambridge

Computing Nature and Nature Inspired ComputationComputing Nature and Nature Inspired Computation
Natural computation
includes:
Natural
computation
includes:
Computation Inspired by nature:
Evolutionary computation
Neural networks
Artificial immune systems
Swarm intelligence
Simulation and emulation of nature
:
In 1623, Galileo in his book The Assayer - Il Saggiatore,
claimed that the language of nature's book is
mathematics and that the way to understand nature is
through mathematics. Generalizing ”mathematics” to
Simulation
and
emulation
of
nature
:
Fractal geometry
Artificial life
”computation” we may agree with Galileo
–
the great
book of nature is an e-book! Computing with natural materials:
DNA computing
Quantum computing
Journals: Natural Computing and IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA5QoTMvsiE&feature=related

Turing Machine Limits. Self-Generating Systems
Complex biological systems must be modeled as self-
referential, self-organizing "component-systems"
(George Kampis) which are self
generating and whose
(George
Kampis)
which
are
self
-
generating
and
whose
behavior, though computational in a general sense,
goes far beyond Turing machine model.
“a component system is a computer which, when executing its operations
(software) builds a new hardware.... [W]e have a computer that re-wires itself in
a hardware-software interplay: the hardware defines the software and the
software defines new hardware. Then the circle starts again.”
(Kampis, p. 223 Self-Modifying Systems in Biology and Cognitive Science)
Dodig Crnkovic, G. (2011). Significance of Models of Computation from Turing Model to Natural
Computation. Minds and Machines, (R. Turner and A. Eden guest eds.) Volume 21, Issue 2, p.301.

Beyond Turing Machine Model
With the advent of computer networks, which are the main paradigm of
computing today, the model of a computer in isolation, represented by a
Universal Turing Machine, has become insufficient.
The basic difference between an isolated computing box and a network of
computational processes (nature itself understood as a computational
mechanism) is the interactivity of computation. The most general
computational paradigm today is interactive computing (Wegner, Goldin).

The challenge to deal with computability in the real world (such as computing
on continuous data, biological computing/organic computing, quantum
ti ll
tl ti
)h b ht d t di
compu
ti
ng, or genera
ll
y na
t
ura
l
compu
ti
n
g
)
h
as
b
roug
ht
new un
d
ers
t
an
di
ng
of computation.
Natural computing has different criteria for success of a computation, halting
problem is not a central issue but instead the adequacy of the computational
problem
is
not
a
central
issue
,
but
instead
the
adequacy
of
the
computational
response in a network of interacting computational processes/devices.

InfoInfo--computationalism Appliedcomputationalism Applied
Info-computationalism aims at connecting non-living and living nature in a
unified natural
p
hiloso
p
h
y
.
ppy
Among others observer must be integrated in the scientific epistemology.
That just mean that we need to understand how an observing agent interacts
with the system and what knowledge might be constructed from that kind of
interaction.
The knowledge constructed by different kinds of agents will be different even
The
knowledge
constructed
by
different
kinds
of
agents
will
be
different
even
though it is about the same physical world.
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature, methods, limitations, and validity of
knowledge and belief.

InfoInfo--computationalism Applied: Epistemology Naturalizedcomputationalism Applied: Epistemology Naturalized
Naturalized epistemology (Feldman, Kornblith, Stich) is, in general, an idea
that knowledge may be studied as a natural phenomenon -- that the subject
matter of epistemology is not our concept of knowledge, but the knowledge
itself.
“Th ti l ti f hi t i ll th id b d h h d
“Th
e s
ti
mu
l
a
ti
on o
f
hi
s sensory recep
t
ors
i
s a
ll
th
e ev
id
ence any
b
o
d
y
h
as
h
a
d
to go on, ultimately, in arriving at his picture of the world. Why not just see
how this construction really proceeds? Why not settle for psychology?
“
how
this
construction
really
proceeds?
Why
not
settle
for
psychology?
("Epistemology Naturalized", Quine 1969; emphasis mine)
I will re-phrase the question to be: Why not settle for computing?

Naturalist Understanding of Cognition
According to Maturana and Varela (1980) even the simplest organisms possess
co
g
nition and their meanin
g
-production apparatus is contained in their
gg
metabolism. Of course, there are also non-metabolic interactions with the
environment, such as locomotion, that also generates meaning for an organism by
changing its environment and providing new input data.
Mt dV l’ d t di tht
ll li i i h
M
a
t
urana an
d
V
are
l
a
’
s un
d
ers
t
an
di
ng
th
a
t
a
ll
li
v
i
ng organ
i
sms
h
ave some
cognition, in some degree, is the most suitable basis for a computationalist
account of the naturalized evolutionar
y
e
p
istemolo
gy
.
yp gy

Info-computational Account of Knowledge Generation
Natural computing as a new paradigm of computing goes
be
y
ond the Turin
g
Machine model and a
pp
lies to all
p
h
y
sical
yg pppy
processes including those going on in our brains.
To do so computer scientists must draw on the expertise in
subjects not usually associated with computing, including
organic chemistry, molecular biology, bioengineering, and
smart materials.

Info-computational Account of Knowledge Generation
At the physical level, living beings are open complex computational
systems in a regime on the edge of chaos, characterized by maximal
informational content. Complexity is found between orderly systems with
high information compressibility and low information content and random
systems with low compressibility and high information content (
Flake)
systems
with
low
compressibility
and
high
information
content
.
(
Flake)
The essential feature of cognizing living organisms is their ability to
manage complexity, and to handle complicated environmental conditions
with a variety of responses which are results of adaptation, variation,
selection learning and/or reasoning (Gell
-
Mann)
selection
,
learning
,
and/or
reasoning
.
(Gell
Mann)

Cognition as Restructuring* of an Agent in the Interaction with
the Environment
As a result of evolution, increasingly complex living organisms arise that are able to survive
and adapt to their environment. It means they are able to register inputs (data) from the
environment, to structure those into information, and in more developed organisms into
knowledge. The evolutionary advantage of using structured, component-based approaches
is improving response
-
time and efficiency of cognitive processes of an organism.
is
improving
response
time
and
efficiency
of
cognitive
processes
of
an
organism.
The Dual network model, suggested by Goertzel for modeling cognition in a living organism
describes mind in terms of two superposed networks: a self-organizing associative memory
network, and a perceptual-motor process hierarchy, with the multi-level logic of a flexible
command structure
command
structure
.
*This is morphological computing

Cognition as Restructuring of an Agent in the Interaction with
the Environment
Naturalized knowledge generation acknowledges the body as our basic cognitive instrument.
All iti i b di d iti i b th i i d h (
Gä d f
All
cogn
iti
on
i
s em
b
o
di
e
d
cogn
iti
on,
i
n
b
o
th
m
i
croorgan
i
sms an
d
h
umans
(
Gä
r
d
en
f
ors,
Stuart). In more complex cognitive agents, knowledge is built upon not only reaction to input
information, but also on intentional choices, dependent on value systems stored and
organized in agents memory.
It is not sur
p
risin
g
that
p
resent da
y
interest in knowled
g
e
g
eneration
p
laces information and
pg p y gg p
computation (communication) in focus, as information and its processing are essential
structural and dynamic elements which characterize structuring of input data (data →
information
→
knowledge) by an interactive computational process going on in the agent
information
→
knowledge)
by
an
interactive
computational
process
going
on
in
the
agent
during the adaptive interplay with the environment.

Natural Computing in Cognizing Agents
Agent-centered (information and computation is in the
agent)
Natural
Computing
in
Cognizing
Agents
agent)
Agent is a cognizing biological organism or an autonomous
ada
p
tive intelli
g
ent machine or both
pg
Interaction with the physical world and other agents is
essential
Kind of physicalism with information as a stuff of the
universe
Agents are parts of different cognitive communities
Self-organization is a fundamental mechanism
Circularity (recursiveness, self-reflexiveness) is central for
biological organisms

What is computation? How does nature compute? Learning from
Nature *
“It always bothers me that, according to the laws as we understand them
td ittk ti hi ifiit b fl i l
t
o
d
ay,
it
t
a
k
es a compu
ti
ng mac
hi
ne an
i
n
fi
n
it
e num
b
er o
f
l
og
i
ca
l
operations to figure out what goes on in no matter how tiny a region of
space, and no matter how tiny a region of time …
So I have often made the hypothesis that ultimately physics will not require
a mathematical statement, that in the end the machinery will be revealed,
and the laws will turn out to be simple like the
chequer
board with all its
and
the
laws
will
turn
out
to
be
simple
,
like
the
chequer
board
with
all
its
apparent complexities.”
Richard Feynman “The Character of Physical Law”
Richard
Feynman
“The
Character
of
Physical
Law”
* 2008 Midwest NKS Conference, Indiana University — Bloomington, IN

Morphogenesis in Biological Systems
Morphogenesis means the creation of form and it is used most frequently in the
context of the creation of shape during animal development It is one of the four
context
of
the
creation
of
shape
during
animal
development
.
It
is
one
of
the
four
fundamental interrelated classes of event that characterize all of development:
Patterning - The setting up of the positions of future events across space at a variety of
scales)
scales)
Regulation of timing - The 'clock' mechanisms that regulate when events happen.
Clocks can directly regulate morphogenesis of individual tissue. Changes of relative timing
of events (heterochrony) can drive the evolution of new body plans. (compare to the concept
of
“
real time
”
in computing)
of
real
time
in
computing)
Cell differentiation: Changes in a cell's set of expressed genes (its molecular phenotype)
Morphogenesis: The processes that generate tissue organization and shape and are usually the
downstream response to the timing and patterning.
(Morphogenetic field - in developmental biology, a group of cells able to respond to
discrete localized biochemical signals leading to the development of specific
discrete
,
localized
biochemical
signals
leading
to
the
development
of
specific
morphological structures or organs.)
http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Morphogenesis

Morphogenesis as Computation (Information Processing) -
Turing's Reaction-Diffusion Model of Morphogenesis
“Patterns resulting from the sole interplay between reaction and diffusion are probably involved in
certain stages of morphogenesis in biological systems as initially proposed by Alan Turing Self
certain
stages
of
morphogenesis
in
biological
systems
,
as
initially
proposed
by
Alan
Turing
.
Self
-
organization phenomena of this type can only develop in nonlinear systems (i.e. involving positive and
negative feedback loops) maintained far from equilibrium.” Dulos, E., Boissonade, J., Perraud, J.
J.Rudovics, B., Kepper, P. (1996) Chemical morphogenesis: Turing patterns in an experimental
chemical system, Acta Biotheoretica, Volume: 44, Issue: 3, pp. 249 -261
http://cgjennings.ca/toybox/turingmorph

Morphological Computation Connecting Body, Brain, And
Environment
soft robotics / self-assembly systems and molecular robotics/
self
-
assembly systems at all scales / embodied robotics /
self
assembly
systems
at
all
scales
/
embodied
robotics
/
reservoir computing / physical reservoir computing/ real neural systems
systems medicine / functional architecture / organization /
process management / computation based on spatio-temporal dynamics/
information theoretical approach to embodiment
mechatronics
/
http://morphcomp.org/2nd International Conference on Morphological Computation ICMC2011.
information
theoretical
approach
to
embodiment
mechatronics
/
amorphous computing / molecular computing
http://www.eucognition.org/index.php?page=theoretical-scheme Tutorial on Embodiment:
R
Pfeifer
R
Pfeifer

Fig. 3.1.1. A theoretical scheme illustrating different components whose interaction comprises an agent's
embodiment (Pfeifer et al. 2007)

An Ongoing Paradigm Shift
Information/Computation as basic building blocks of
understanding
Discrete/Continuum as two complementary levels of
description
Natural interactive computing beyond Turing limit – not
only computing as is but also computing as it may be
Complex dynamic systems (grounds for future
communication across cultural gaps of research)

An Ongoing Paradigm Shift
Emergency (emergent property - a quality possessed by the whole but
not by its parts)
Logical pluralism
Logical
pluralism
Philosophy (“Everything must go*” approach, synthetic
besides analytic approaches, philosophy informed by
sciences)
sciences)
Human-centric (agent-centric) models
Circularity and self
reflection (computing cybernetics)
Circularity
and
self
-
reflection
(computing
,
cybernetics)
Ethics returns to researchers agenda (Science as a
constructivist project – what is it we construct and why?)
*Ladyman, J., Ross, D., Spurrett, D., and Collier, J. (2007). Everything must go: metaphysics naturalized. Clarendon Press, Oxford

Convergence
ARTIFACTUAL
HUMAN
AGENCY AGENCY

Comment on Machina Mundi Model –
Observers on the Interface
Planisphaerium Ptolemaicum
siue machina orbium mundi
siue
machina
orbium
mundi
ex hypothesi Ptolemaica in plano disposita
Author: Cellarius, Andreas
Publisher:
Date: 1661
LtiSl t
L
oca
ti
on:
S
o
l
ar sys
t
e
m
http://maps.bpl.org/id/M8727/

Instead of Conclusion, some Proposed Answers To iBioMath
2011 Discussion Questions
- Do living systems compute at all?
- Do we compute where a ball that has been thrown is going to land or do we
use some other form of
“
calculation
”
to optimize our chances of catching it?
use
some
other
form
of
calculation
to
optimize
our
chances
of
catching
it?
(Most people don't think we compute. So what do we do? )
People are right in thinking that we do not perform classical computation when
we move or metabolize.
But our body performs morphological computation
But
our
body
performs
morphological
computation
.
That sort of computation is non-classical and non-symbolical physical
computation that we do not think about, but has developed during evolution
and throu
g
h our interaction with the
p
h
y
sical world.
gpy

Instead of Conclusion, some Proposed Answers To iBioMath
2011 Discussion Questions
- Does our underlying understanding of computation and cognition, of
sensing and action suffice for building systems that really can mimic
living systems?
Our understanding of computation is changing.
Unlike the Turing machine model which originates from Hilbert’s program for logics and
mathematics (proposed in the early 1920s), other types of models of computation such as
process models (Petri nets, Process Algebra, and Agent-Based models) appeared in the past
decades (the theory of Petri nets in 1962), specifically in computing dealing with concurrent
networks.
Indicatively, the present day formal methods in Systems Biology include Rule-Based Modeling of
Signal Transduction, Process Algebras, Abstract Interpretation, Model Checking, Agent-Based
Modeling of Cellular Behavior, Boolean Networks, Petri Nets, State Charts and Hybrid Systems.
However concurrency models have emerged in a bottom
-
up fashion in order to tackle present
However
,
concurrency
models
have
emerged
in
a
bottom
up
fashion
in
order
to
tackle
present
day networks of computational systems and it will take a few years until they reach the shared
world view as tools of thinking in a new paradigm of computation.

Instead of Conclusion, some Proposed Answers To iBioMath
2011 Discussion Questions
-Does our underlying understanding of computation and cognition, of sensing
and action suffice for building systems that really can mimic living systems?
and
action
suffice
for
building
systems
that
really
can
mimic
living
systems?
Natural computation is developing bottom-up by solving specific problems, in
th fi t l ithi ti
th
e
fi
rs
t
p
l
ace w
ithi
n compu
ti
ng.
Bio-informatics
,
s
y
stems biolo
gy
and other theoretical fields of biolo
gy
, y gy gy
assimilate info-computational approaches, which in this context of living-
systems will necessarily become top-down models as well.

Instead of Conclusion, some Proposed Answers To iBioMath
2011 Discussion Questions
-What is missing from our understanding of the human mind?
Understanding of its underlying structures (information) and processes
(computation)
- How far are we from a formal Theory of Mind & Consciousness?
What sort of formal do we expect it to be? Would we be satisfied with the
understanding of mind and consciousness on the level of simulator (like flight
simulator) ?. That is what we may wish to go for.

Instead of Conclusion, some Proposed Answers To iBioMath
2011 Discussion Questions
-How should we relate to existing large projects SyNAPSE (DARPA, more computational
focus) and Human Brain Project (EU Flagship, more biological focus)?
Obviously the above two projects have different goals, and they will answer specific
questions. Making general conclusions and especially establishing permanent bridges
between different fields contributing to the construction of practically workable models of
cognition, including consciousness, volition, awareness, creativity and similar higher
functions – still remains to be done! This is a huge effort of establishing links to both current
knowledge and relevant historical sources that current knowledge is built upon., given the
fact that so many disciplines are undergoing radical changes such as computing biology
fact
that
so
many
disciplines
are
undergoing
radical
changes
such
as
computing
,
biology
,
mathematics, logic, etc. and new fields are formed as bio-informatics, information science,
etc. This work of relating knowledge fields must proceed simultaneously bottom-up and
top-down, in many cycles.

References
References
Dodig Crnkovic G, Info-computationalism and Morphological
Computing of Informational Structure, forthcoming
Dodi
g
Crnkovic
,
G. and Müller
,
V.
,
A Dialo
g
ue Concernin
g
g, ,,
g
g
Two World Systems: Info-Computational vs. Mechanistic; in
Dodig Crnkovic G and Burgin, M., Eds.; World Scientific
Publishing Co., Inc.: Singapore, 2010