The Great Chains of Computing: Informatics at Multiple Scales
The perspective from which information processing is pervasive in the universe has proven to be an increasingly productive one. Phenomena from the quantum level to social networks have commonalities that can be usefully explicated using principles of informatics. We argue that the notion of scale is...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Paderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research Group
2011-10-01
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| Series: | tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique |
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| Online Access: | https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/296 |
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| _version_ | 1849406615236640768 |
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| author | Kevin Kirby James Walden Rudy Garns Maureen Doyle |
| author_facet | Kevin Kirby James Walden Rudy Garns Maureen Doyle |
| author_sort | Kevin Kirby |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The perspective from which information processing is pervasive in the universe has proven to be an increasingly productive one. Phenomena from the quantum level to social networks have commonalities that can be usefully explicated using principles of informatics. We argue that the notion of scale is particularly salient here. An appreciation of what is invariant and what is emergent across scales, and of the variety of different types of scales, establishes a useful foundation for the transdiscipline of informatics. We survey the notion of scale and use it to explore the characteristic features of information statics (data), kinematics (communication), and dynamics (processing). We then explore the analogy to the principles of plenitude and continuity that feature in Western thought, under the name of the "great chain of being", from Plato through Leibniz and beyond, and show that the pancomputational turn is a modern counterpart of this ruling idea. We conclude by arguing that this broader perspective can enhance informatics pedagogy. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-40e9d09618464e2dae1f5adf4c9f8cba |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1726-670X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2011-10-01 |
| publisher | Paderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique |
| spelling | doaj-art-40e9d09618464e2dae1f5adf4c9f8cba2025-08-20T03:36:19ZengPaderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research GrouptripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique1726-670X2011-10-019210.31269/triplec.v9i2.296296The Great Chains of Computing: Informatics at Multiple ScalesKevin KirbyJames WaldenRudy GarnsMaureen DoyleThe perspective from which information processing is pervasive in the universe has proven to be an increasingly productive one. Phenomena from the quantum level to social networks have commonalities that can be usefully explicated using principles of informatics. We argue that the notion of scale is particularly salient here. An appreciation of what is invariant and what is emergent across scales, and of the variety of different types of scales, establishes a useful foundation for the transdiscipline of informatics. We survey the notion of scale and use it to explore the characteristic features of information statics (data), kinematics (communication), and dynamics (processing). We then explore the analogy to the principles of plenitude and continuity that feature in Western thought, under the name of the "great chain of being", from Plato through Leibniz and beyond, and show that the pancomputational turn is a modern counterpart of this ruling idea. We conclude by arguing that this broader perspective can enhance informatics pedagogy.https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/296Scaleinformaticstransdisciplinarityuniversalitynatural computation |
| spellingShingle | Kevin Kirby James Walden Rudy Garns Maureen Doyle The Great Chains of Computing: Informatics at Multiple Scales tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique Scale informatics transdisciplinarity universality natural computation |
| title | The Great Chains of Computing: Informatics at Multiple Scales |
| title_full | The Great Chains of Computing: Informatics at Multiple Scales |
| title_fullStr | The Great Chains of Computing: Informatics at Multiple Scales |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Great Chains of Computing: Informatics at Multiple Scales |
| title_short | The Great Chains of Computing: Informatics at Multiple Scales |
| title_sort | great chains of computing informatics at multiple scales |
| topic | Scale informatics transdisciplinarity universality natural computation |
| url | https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/296 |
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