In the Beginning was Information

We still have to describe a domain of definition for all these theorems;this will be done in the next chapter.Figure 14 may serve the purpose of ordering the proposed theorems.Three phenomena are represented hierarchically, namelymatter, information, and life, with matter at the lowest level. Allknown natural laws belong here (e. g. conservation of energy,strength of materials, and electric charge). According to Theorem 1information is not a property of matter, and thus requires a nexthigher level. All information theorems belong to this level. Thehighest level is that of life. Natural laws belonging to this levelmay be called life theorems. A fundamental theorem at this levelwas formulated by Louis Pasteur (1822 – 1895), and it has not yetbeen contradicted by any experiment: “Life can only come fromlife.” The following statements can be made about the three hierarchicallevels shown in Figure 14:* Information is nonmaterial, but it requires material mediafor storage and transmission.* Information is not life, but the information in cells isessential for all living beings. Information is a necessaryprerequisite for life.* Life is nonmaterial, and it is not information, but bothentities, matter and information, are essential for life.Because of the philosophical bias, both information and life itselfare regarded as purely material phenomena in the evolutionaryview. The origin and the nature of life is reduced to physical-chemicalcauses. In the words of Jean B. de Lamarck (1744 – 1829):“Life is merely a physical phenomenon. All manifestations of lifeare based on mechanical, physical, and chemical causes, beingproperties of organic matter” (Philosophie zoologique, Paris, 1809,Vol. 1, p 104 f). The German evolutionist Manfred Eigen expresseda similar view [E2, p 149]: “The logic of life originates in physicsand chemistry.” His pupil, Bernd-Olaf Küppers, paved the way formolecular Darwinism, but the present author has already respondedto this materialistic view in [G14, p 90 – 92]. All such ideas81