Shannon's information focuses on the syntactic aspect of communication without regard for what the messages actually mean.
Can we measure meaning? What is the relationship between semantic information and autonomous agency? 🧐💭
#complexitycat 🐈⬛./1
www.complexitycat.org/posts/semant...
Can we measure meaning? What is the relationship between semantic information and autonomous agency? 🧐💭
#complexitycat 🐈⬛./1
www.complexitycat.org/posts/semant...
Review Semantic information, autonomous agency and non-equilibrium statistical physics
Shannon’s information theory does not consider meaning; it is a quantitative theory focused on the probability and transmission of messages as signals, completely divorcing information from its semant...
www.complexitycat.org
November 14, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Shannon's information focuses on the syntactic aspect of communication without regard for what the messages actually mean.
Can we measure meaning? What is the relationship between semantic information and autonomous agency? 🧐💭
#complexitycat 🐈⬛./1
www.complexitycat.org/posts/semant...
Can we measure meaning? What is the relationship between semantic information and autonomous agency? 🧐💭
#complexitycat 🐈⬛./1
www.complexitycat.org/posts/semant...
A group of renowned #ALife researchers recently published a paper exploring open questions on the relationship between life and self-reference.
As usual, part of the literature addressing these “unresolved problems” was ignored.../1🤓
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/time-a...
As usual, part of the literature addressing these “unresolved problems” was ignored.../1🤓
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/time-a...
Review Open Questions about Time and Self-reference in Living Systems
Today I am going to review a synthesis written by a group of renowned researchers of artificial life, who have omitted a couple of important contributions that close the gap with what they have called...
amahury.github.io
October 31, 2025 at 1:55 PM
A group of renowned #ALife researchers recently published a paper exploring open questions on the relationship between life and self-reference.
As usual, part of the literature addressing these “unresolved problems” was ignored.../1🤓
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/time-a...
As usual, part of the literature addressing these “unresolved problems” was ignored.../1🤓
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/time-a...
Guess what? Our monthly thread is here, updated every week and full of opportunities for you! Pay attention to the goodies coming our way in November: international conferences, graduate programs, special issues, and much more!
🐈⬛🧵👇
#complexitycat
🐈⬛🧵👇
#complexitycat
October 27, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Guess what? Our monthly thread is here, updated every week and full of opportunities for you! Pay attention to the goodies coming our way in November: international conferences, graduate programs, special issues, and much more!
🐈⬛🧵👇
#complexitycat
🐈⬛🧵👇
#complexitycat
Last week, #complexitycat brought you a short essay tracing the idea of life as a thermodynamic phenomenon out of equilibrium, discovering that Schrödinger failed to cite relevant contributions when writing his popular “What is Life?”.
Want to know more? Check it out below!🐈⬛✍️
Want to know more? Check it out below!🐈⬛✍️
October 24, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Last week, #complexitycat brought you a short essay tracing the idea of life as a thermodynamic phenomenon out of equilibrium, discovering that Schrödinger failed to cite relevant contributions when writing his popular “What is Life?”.
Want to know more? Check it out below!🐈⬛✍️
Want to know more? Check it out below!🐈⬛✍️
The characterization of life as a thermodynamic phenomenon out of equilibrium is usually attributed to Schrödinger.
What if I told you that he wasn't the first (not even the second😶🌫️) to reach that famous and influential conclusion?/1
#complexitycat🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/reinve...
What if I told you that he wasn't the first (not even the second😶🌫️) to reach that famous and influential conclusion?/1
#complexitycat🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/reinve...
When Schrödinger Reinvented the Wheel
Erwin Schrödinger’s “What is Life?” is perhaps one of the most influential works in theoretical biology, but what if I told you that one of the key ideas discussed in it was nothing new?
amahury.github.io
October 17, 2025 at 1:35 PM
The characterization of life as a thermodynamic phenomenon out of equilibrium is usually attributed to Schrödinger.
What if I told you that he wasn't the first (not even the second😶🌫️) to reach that famous and influential conclusion?/1
#complexitycat🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/reinve...
What if I told you that he wasn't the first (not even the second😶🌫️) to reach that famous and influential conclusion?/1
#complexitycat🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/reinve...
As a promising avenue for unifying physics and biology, assembly theory (AT) has been subject of controversy, being both praised and refuted at the same time.
What is its current status? Has it really quantified selection and evolution?/1
#complexitycat🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/demyst...
What is its current status? Has it really quantified selection and evolution?/1
#complexitycat🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/demyst...
Demystifying Assembly Theory
“It doesn’t make any difference how beautiful your guess is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are who made the guess, or what his name is … If it disagrees with experiment, it’s wrong. That’s all there...
amahury.github.io
September 12, 2025 at 1:40 PM
As a promising avenue for unifying physics and biology, assembly theory (AT) has been subject of controversy, being both praised and refuted at the same time.
What is its current status? Has it really quantified selection and evolution?/1
#complexitycat🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/demyst...
What is its current status? Has it really quantified selection and evolution?/1
#complexitycat🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/demyst...
Did you know that Wittgenstein tracked Turing’s developments in computation, addressing their implications for the meaning of “effective calculation”?😶🌫️
If you're interested in historical figures like Gödel and Rosen, I invite you to check out the latest #complexitycat essay!🐈⬛
If you're interested in historical figures like Gödel and Rosen, I invite you to check out the latest #complexitycat essay!🐈⬛
Computation, one of the most well-grounded and unambiguous terms we have developed so far... right?🤔
Before building a computationalist empire, we must not forget to go right down to the foundations. So, what exactly is computation?/1
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/what-c...
Before building a computationalist empire, we must not forget to go right down to the foundations. So, what exactly is computation?/1
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/what-c...
What Does “Computing” Mean?
Today I am going to write an essay in which I will outline some of the major epistemological gaps surrounding the concept of computation, some of which, in my opinion, have been ignored or taken for g...
amahury.github.io
August 28, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Did you know that Wittgenstein tracked Turing’s developments in computation, addressing their implications for the meaning of “effective calculation”?😶🌫️
If you're interested in historical figures like Gödel and Rosen, I invite you to check out the latest #complexitycat essay!🐈⬛
If you're interested in historical figures like Gödel and Rosen, I invite you to check out the latest #complexitycat essay!🐈⬛
Computation, one of the most well-grounded and unambiguous terms we have developed so far... right?🤔
Before building a computationalist empire, we must not forget to go right down to the foundations. So, what exactly is computation?/1
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/what-c...
Before building a computationalist empire, we must not forget to go right down to the foundations. So, what exactly is computation?/1
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/what-c...
What Does “Computing” Mean?
Today I am going to write an essay in which I will outline some of the major epistemological gaps surrounding the concept of computation, some of which, in my opinion, have been ignored or taken for g...
amahury.github.io
August 15, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Computation, one of the most well-grounded and unambiguous terms we have developed so far... right?🤔
Before building a computationalist empire, we must not forget to go right down to the foundations. So, what exactly is computation?/1
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/what-c...
Before building a computationalist empire, we must not forget to go right down to the foundations. So, what exactly is computation?/1
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/what-c...
When we say that all models of computation are equivalent in theory, we implicitly invoke a Platonic realm. But do these equivalences hold when we descend into the material world? What does that imply for how life computes?/1 🤖🔄🦠
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/how-ch...
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/how-ch...
Review How Chemistry Computes: Language Recognition by Non-Biochemical Chemical Automata. From Finite Automata to Turing Machines
Computation is perhaps one of the most influential terms of the last century. However, I believe we must reformulate this concept in terms of its substrate, that is, what performs the computations. To...
amahury.github.io
August 8, 2025 at 1:29 PM
When we say that all models of computation are equivalent in theory, we implicitly invoke a Platonic realm. But do these equivalences hold when we descend into the material world? What does that imply for how life computes?/1 🤖🔄🦠
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/how-ch...
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/how-ch...
Everyone talks about open-ended evolution, but how can we formally describe it?🤔
And what if evolution is something that goes beyond our current computational descriptions? Does that mean we can't create in-silico artificial life?/1 😶🌫️
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/condit...
And what if evolution is something that goes beyond our current computational descriptions? Does that mean we can't create in-silico artificial life?/1 😶🌫️
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/condit...
Review Undecidability and Irreducibility Conditions for Open-Ended Evolution and Emergence
While there is not full consensus on how to define the specifics of Open-Ended Evolution (OEE), at a high level it describes organisms that are continuously evolving and changing, rather than eventual...
amahury.github.io
August 1, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Everyone talks about open-ended evolution, but how can we formally describe it?🤔
And what if evolution is something that goes beyond our current computational descriptions? Does that mean we can't create in-silico artificial life?/1 😶🌫️
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/condit...
And what if evolution is something that goes beyond our current computational descriptions? Does that mean we can't create in-silico artificial life?/1 😶🌫️
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/condit...
Beyond characterizing life using a list of qualitative properties, a second challenge is to be able to capture those properties using quantitative tools. Can we capture the basic characteristics of life in a set of equations?/1 🤔💭🦠
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/unifie...
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/unifie...
Review Unified representation of Life’s basic properties by a 3-species Stochastic Cubic Autocatalytic Reaction-Diffusion system of equations
Reproduction, growth, development, homeostasis, metabolism, adaptation, evolution… we could go on and on and never find a complete list of characteristics that define life. However, another question i...
amahury.github.io
July 25, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Beyond characterizing life using a list of qualitative properties, a second challenge is to be able to capture those properties using quantitative tools. Can we capture the basic characteristics of life in a set of equations?/1 🤔💭🦠
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/unifie...
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/unifie...
Over the last century, we have developed multiple narratives to characterize life. One of them, physical biosemiotics, has been in the shadows for the last few decades despite its powerful ideas for distinguishing life from non-life.
#complexitycat ./1 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/distin...
#complexitycat ./1 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/distin...
What Distinguishes Life from Non-Life?
“How, therefore, we must ask, is it possible for us to distinguish the living from the lifeless if we can describe both conceptually by the motion of inorganic corpuscles?”—Karl Pearson (The Grammar o...
amahury.github.io
July 18, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Over the last century, we have developed multiple narratives to characterize life. One of them, physical biosemiotics, has been in the shadows for the last few decades despite its powerful ideas for distinguishing life from non-life.
#complexitycat ./1 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/distin...
#complexitycat ./1 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/distin...
An adversarial test between the two most popular and accepted theories of consciousness was recently published in Nature. Given its inconclusive results, perhaps it's time to explore theories once considered fringe or unconventional.../1
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/quantu...
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/quantu...
Let’s Talk about Quantum Consciousness
A recent study published in Nature shows that the two most accepted theories to explain consciousness turn out to be insufficient, leaving room for a potential general theory of consciousness. Among a...
amahury.github.io
July 11, 2025 at 3:00 PM
An adversarial test between the two most popular and accepted theories of consciousness was recently published in Nature. Given its inconclusive results, perhaps it's time to explore theories once considered fringe or unconventional.../1
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/quantu...
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/quantu...
Gödel, Turing, and Chaitin have significantly contributed to our understanding of the limits of formal systems and computation. How do these fundamental results affect our explanations of what is life, agency, and cognition? 🦠
#complexitycat 🐈⬛ ./1
amahury.github.io/posts/review...
#complexitycat 🐈⬛ ./1
amahury.github.io/posts/review...
Review Naturalizing relevance realization: why agency and cognition are fundamentally not computational
Recently, dynamic trialectics has been proposed to show that life features such as cognition and agency are not algorithmic in nature. This perspective builds on classical notions of computation, leav...
amahury.github.io
July 4, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Gödel, Turing, and Chaitin have significantly contributed to our understanding of the limits of formal systems and computation. How do these fundamental results affect our explanations of what is life, agency, and cognition? 🦠
#complexitycat 🐈⬛ ./1
amahury.github.io/posts/review...
#complexitycat 🐈⬛ ./1
amahury.github.io/posts/review...
How can computational systems evolve in an open-ended way, generating continuous novelty without predefined goals? In this archived #complexitycat interview, I discuss the nature of artificial evolutionary systems with @hirokisayama.bsky.social!
Take a look at it👇🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/interv...
Take a look at it👇🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/interv...
The Art of Making Things Evolve
For decades Hiroki Sayama has sought to achieve what a century ago would have been mere science fiction—creating life on our computers.
amahury.github.io
June 27, 2025 at 12:32 PM
How can computational systems evolve in an open-ended way, generating continuous novelty without predefined goals? In this archived #complexitycat interview, I discuss the nature of artificial evolutionary systems with @hirokisayama.bsky.social!
Take a look at it👇🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/interv...
Take a look at it👇🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/interv...
If you try to find any trace of such lectures on the Internet, you will realize that it is not possible to find them. In this #complexitycat archive I reviewed such a book and provided a link where they can be downloaded from my Drive account!/3 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/treasu...
amahury.github.io/posts/treasu...
June 13, 2025 at 1:54 PM
If you try to find any trace of such lectures on the Internet, you will realize that it is not possible to find them. In this #complexitycat archive I reviewed such a book and provided a link where they can be downloaded from my Drive account!/3 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/treasu...
amahury.github.io/posts/treasu...
Last summer I found an underground series of lectures on the origin of life that belonged to Howard Pattee. At first glance it looks like a bunch of old pages, but it ended up being one of the most fascinating references on the subject./1
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/treasu...
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/treasu...
A treasure that belonged to Howard Pattee
Today, after almost six months, I can finally share with you that treasure I found last summer.
amahury.github.io
June 13, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Last summer I found an underground series of lectures on the origin of life that belonged to Howard Pattee. At first glance it looks like a bunch of old pages, but it ended up being one of the most fascinating references on the subject./1
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/treasu...
#complexitycat 🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/treasu...
Looking for a job after the summer? Today #complexitycat brings you SEVEN open positions (from graduate programs to junior research opportunities) + a workshop on self-organization, all of them with deadlines the rest of the month.
Do not hesitate and apply! 👇🧵🐈⬛
Do not hesitate and apply! 👇🧵🐈⬛
June 12, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Looking for a job after the summer? Today #complexitycat brings you SEVEN open positions (from graduate programs to junior research opportunities) + a workshop on self-organization, all of them with deadlines the rest of the month.
Do not hesitate and apply! 👇🧵🐈⬛
Do not hesitate and apply! 👇🧵🐈⬛
Autopoiesis, autocatalytic sets, Ganti’s chemoton, Prigogine’s dissipative structures, Rosen’s (M, R)-systems... the notion of organizational closure is ubiquitous in all of them.
Thus, can we unify them into a single framework?🤔
#complexitycat 🐈⬛./1
amahury.github.io/posts/review...
Thus, can we unify them into a single framework?🤔
#complexitycat 🐈⬛./1
amahury.github.io/posts/review...
Review Contrasting theories of life: Historical context, current theories. In search of an ideal theory
For me the best recent perspective article on theories of life. A must read for any individual interested in the origin of life, artificial life and theoretical biology in general.
amahury.github.io
May 30, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Autopoiesis, autocatalytic sets, Ganti’s chemoton, Prigogine’s dissipative structures, Rosen’s (M, R)-systems... the notion of organizational closure is ubiquitous in all of them.
Thus, can we unify them into a single framework?🤔
#complexitycat 🐈⬛./1
amahury.github.io/posts/review...
Thus, can we unify them into a single framework?🤔
#complexitycat 🐈⬛./1
amahury.github.io/posts/review...
May flew by, and today #complexitycat brings you six deadlines for next week. Special issues, faculty positions, postdoctoral fellowships, PhD opportunities, international workshops, you name it! 🐈⬛🧵
May 23, 2025 at 2:36 PM
May flew by, and today #complexitycat brings you six deadlines for next week. Special issues, faculty positions, postdoctoral fellowships, PhD opportunities, international workshops, you name it! 🐈⬛🧵
Today #complexitycat brings you an essay discussing Pattee's epistemic cut, which partially resolved Pearson's original question and accounts for a non-reductionist explanation of life. Following this narrative, what's next? This and more here below🐈⬛👇./3
amahury.github.io/posts/distin...
amahury.github.io/posts/distin...
What Distinguishes Life from Non-Life?
“How, therefore, we must ask, is it possible for us to distinguish the living from the lifeless if we can describe both conceptually by the motion of inorganic corpuscles?”—Karl Pearson (The Grammar o...
amahury.github.io
May 23, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Today #complexitycat brings you an essay discussing Pattee's epistemic cut, which partially resolved Pearson's original question and accounts for a non-reductionist explanation of life. Following this narrative, what's next? This and more here below🐈⬛👇./3
amahury.github.io/posts/distin...
amahury.github.io/posts/distin...
Have you heard of Code Biology? It focuses on the study of all the codes of life, from the genetic code to the codes of culture. Today #complexitycat briefly reviews this field, analyzing its motivations and its historical divergence from biosemiotics.🐈⬛👇
amahury.github.io/posts/code-b...
amahury.github.io/posts/code-b...
A Science on Biological Codes
Since 2003, Marcello Barbieri has been suggesting that there are two distinct mechanisms of evolutionary change—evolution by natural selection, based on copying, and evolution by natural conventions, ...
amahury.github.io
May 16, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Have you heard of Code Biology? It focuses on the study of all the codes of life, from the genetic code to the codes of culture. Today #complexitycat briefly reviews this field, analyzing its motivations and its historical divergence from biosemiotics.🐈⬛👇
amahury.github.io/posts/code-b...
amahury.github.io/posts/code-b...
May is starting, but deadlines never end! 🚨🚨🚨
Here #complexitycat brings you ELEVEN deadlines valid for the next three weeks. If you're still looking for a conference ✈️, a summer school 🌴, or a job 👩🏫, this is for you!🐈⬛
Please reshare 🔁👀
Here #complexitycat brings you ELEVEN deadlines valid for the next three weeks. If you're still looking for a conference ✈️, a summer school 🌴, or a job 👩🏫, this is for you!🐈⬛
Please reshare 🔁👀
May 2, 2025 at 3:25 PM
May is starting, but deadlines never end! 🚨🚨🚨
Here #complexitycat brings you ELEVEN deadlines valid for the next three weeks. If you're still looking for a conference ✈️, a summer school 🌴, or a job 👩🏫, this is for you!🐈⬛
Please reshare 🔁👀
Here #complexitycat brings you ELEVEN deadlines valid for the next three weeks. If you're still looking for a conference ✈️, a summer school 🌴, or a job 👩🏫, this is for you!🐈⬛
Please reshare 🔁👀
Today #complexitycat reviews an article by @dpwaters.bsky.social, who has proposed a synthesis between Dawkins' extended phenotype and Gibson's theory of affordances. What's the next step towards a synthesis between physical biosemiotics and ecological psychology?👇🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/review...
amahury.github.io/posts/review...
Review From extended phenotype to extended affordance: distributed language at the intersection of Gibson and Dawkins
During NERCCS 2025 I had the opportunity to meet Dennis P. Waters, a transdisciplinary thinker whose PhD was done under the direction of Howard Pattee. With Dennis I had the opportunity to talk about ...
amahury.github.io
May 2, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Today #complexitycat reviews an article by @dpwaters.bsky.social, who has proposed a synthesis between Dawkins' extended phenotype and Gibson's theory of affordances. What's the next step towards a synthesis between physical biosemiotics and ecological psychology?👇🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/review...
amahury.github.io/posts/review...
A recent paper by @sfiscience.bsky.social fellows proposes a new relational model to characterize how self-organizing living processes arise. Today #complexitycat discusses the key gaps in this framework, emphasizing a possible reconciliation with other approaches.🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/review...
amahury.github.io/posts/review...
Review The Nature of Organization in Living Systems
A year ago, Pedro Márquez-Zacarías gave a seminar at my university that inspired me to delve deeper into the ideas proposed by Robert Rosen. A month ago, he and his collaborators at the Santa Fe Insti...
amahury.github.io
April 25, 2025 at 1:26 PM
A recent paper by @sfiscience.bsky.social fellows proposes a new relational model to characterize how self-organizing living processes arise. Today #complexitycat discusses the key gaps in this framework, emphasizing a possible reconciliation with other approaches.🐈⬛
amahury.github.io/posts/review...
amahury.github.io/posts/review...