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On the Informational Essence of Emergence and Evolution: An Analysis of the New Dualistic Approach
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1  Xi'an Jiaotong University

Abstract:

In his article “What is Information”, Robert Logan explores certain issues related to information on the basis of the connotation of information itself, and puts forward two important theories of "extended mind" and "symbolosphere". Based on the strong-emergence theory, Logan depicts the material emergence and non-material emergence, and proposes a new dualism view, a weak form of dualism. According to this, different from the biosphere, the evolution and reproduction mechanism in symbolosphere do not follow the rules of genetic inheritance, but the mechanisms of memes, belonging to the territory of information study. The new dualism faces the difficulty to correctly explain the ontological position of the symbolosphere, while the philosophy of information provides a standard solution in its theory of human evolution. The evolution of human beings not only contains a physiological inheritance pattern, that is, to follow the single evolution path with DNA genetic characteristics, but also includes psychological activity patterns and behavioral patterns in a three-dimensional way. For human race, the physiological and genetic characteristics will present themselves in the postnatal growth, at the same time, the characteristics of psychological and behavior patterns accumulated in years will also leave “traces” on the inherent genetic vector, which constitutes a new congenital genetic features. It is in this interaction and two-way activities of mutual development and realization between human and nature as well as culture factors that all the content of physiophere, biosphere and symbolosphere and their form achieve a completed, essential and unified integration.

Keywords: Dualism; Emergence; Non-material; Information
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