I recently converted Bitcoin's seed phrase into a DNA sequence, just because I could. Using only the first four letters of the BIP39 primer, a 12-word primer phrase can be stored in just 48 nucleotides of DNA. (For comparison, the average gene is several thousand nucleotides long, and the complete human genome contains more than 3 billion nucleotides.) Any genetics graduate student could, in a few days, convert my initial word sequence into an actual strand of DNA and insert that DNA into coli bacteria Or any other suitable host for storage (and dissemination) within the organism.
DNA is just one way to store and transmit information. There are many other ways to do this, and once information is widely distributed, it is almost impossible to eradicate, which is why it will be impossible to stop Bitcoin on a global scale through regulation, legislation, or even violence. The mere fact that you can store Bitcoin's private key in DNA demonstrates the futility of trying to ban Bitcoin. Once information is unleashed, it becomes difficult to contain.
But why is information so difficult to contain? Perhaps because information is a fundamental entity of the universe. For many centuries, scientists believed that the universe consisted only of matter and energy. Today, we know that it is composed of matter, energy, and information. Information can be stored in matter and transmitted using energy, but the information itself is not. Einstein showed us that matter and energy are interchangeable (E=mc2), but… entirely It cannot be created or destroyed. In contrast, information can be created and destroyed, but it is not easy. Once information is created and widely distributed, it becomes increasingly difficult to destroy.
Information parts
Information is supposed to be sent and received between two or more parties. It is done for a purpose by the sender and is intended to stimulate action in the recipient. There are five hierarchical components of information:
- devotion
- Syntax (code or grammar)
- Semantics (meaning)
- Pragmatism (action)
- Apoptex (Purpose)
devotion
Fidelity is the lowest element of information, but it is absolutely essential to successful transmission. It was once a major problem for cell phone and Internet communications. to remember “Can you hear me now?” commercial? As technology advanced, low resolution eventually became high definition (which oddly enough became wireless resolution, or Wi-Fi). In general, we do not care about sincerity unless it is imperfect. (Can you hear me now?)
Code and language
Syntax refers to the grammatical code or rules used to convey information. A code is a set of symbols that represent temporally or spatially linkable pieces of information. That is, symbols can be linked together in time or space to achieve the next level of information (semantics). The symbols used can vary greatly. They include, among others, the letters that make up the alphabet, hand gestures (e.g., American Sign Language), musical notes (e.g., old modem connections and touch-screen telephones), or nucleotides in DNA and RNA. The number of symbols used can also vary. Most alphabets use between 20 and 35 letters, the nucleotide code uses four chemicals (abbreviated A, U, C, and G), and the binary code used by computers has only two symbols (0 and 1) representing the on and off states. The number and type of symbols used are not chosen randomly. For example, they can be specified by mode of transport or to meet a specific need (Table 1).
Table 1: Codes can be selected for the method of transmission or to meet a specific need.
A shared code is essential to successfully communicate information. That is, the code must be known to both the sender and the receiver. Also, since code is not itself information, but merely a provider of information, any given code can be translator to any other code. For example, written human languages can be translated from one to another:
Go on the mountain…
Go on the mountain…
Go the other way up the mountain…
The above statement can also be translated, using a human's eyes, brain and mouth, from symbols on a page into sound waves (sound symbols) in the air, which can be picked up by a microphone and converted into electrical signals in wires and then into radio waves that travel through space to be picked up by an antenna On the space station, converting them back into electrical signals, then converting them with a loudspeaker back into sound waves for another human's ears to hear. In the human astronaut's ears, the signal is converted from air waves into fluid waves in the cochlea and then into electrical nerve impulses that are carried to the brain to be interpreted by neurons. In the brain, those neurons somehow make sense of the original string of symbols, taking us to the next level of information: semantics or meaning.
Semantics, pragmatics, and apoptoticism
Semantics is the meaning or intent of a message (a series of symbols). Assigning meaning to symbols is a mental process. This does not happen at the machine level, but at the human level. When you read a book, you don't care about fidelity (unless it's deficient) or syntax (unless the grammar is bad or it's language you don't understand). Instead, you are interested in meaning It is conveyed by the message, i.e. the connotations. Although computers can easily store and transmit information, and can even perform logical operations via transistors, they cannot meaningfully interpret information the way humans can. Do Raspberry pi nodes, hardware wallets, or ASICs understand Bitcoin the way a human does? I do not think so.
The goal of purposeful communication is to stimulate some action in the recipient. This business objective represents the practical level of information. The reason the sender wants to prompt this response is the purpose of the information, which is the intimidating level of information. These highest levels of information require real intelligence on both sides, and even will. Whether or not computers can have will remains to be seen.
“Go tell it on the mountain…” is a series of symbols (symbol) that create a meaningful message (semantics) in which the sender (fear) expects some response from the receiver (pragmatics). A message can only be received if it is sent appropriately (good sincerity).
Bitcoin as information
Bitcoin (software) is computer code written in a specific coding language. From the software to the blockchain to the key pairs in wallets, Bitcoin is information. This information can be stored, transmitted, and replicated in flash drives, printed books, or DNA molecules. Because it is now so widespread, it is almost impossible to destroy it at this stage. Politicians and bankers may not like this, but the genie is out of the bottle and cannot be stopped now. As they say, you can't ban Bitcoin, you can only ban yourself from using Bitcoin.
Fidelity and syntax are the operational parts of information. Semantics, pragmatics, and theory are the higher levels of information concerned with the intent and response of intelligent beings based on the meaning of the message. In Bitcoin, fidelity – or clarity of transmission – is achieved by the Internet (achieved by HAM radio) that connects a network of nodes, miners, and wallets. The Bitcoin syntax consists of the coding languages used to write and execute Bitcoin Core and related software on that hardware. The meaning or connotations of Bitcoin is a rare and immutable digital token. Bitcoin's higher purposes – pragmatism and belief – are evident in users running miners, nodes and wallets who are motivated and seek to secure their wealth from theft, either through theft or disdain.
The Internet is now a mature and high-precision communication system. It cannot be destroyed without simultaneously destroying humanity as we know it. The computer codes and languages used by Bitcoin are distributed enough that getting rid of them is essentially impossible. But even if you somehow manage to destroy the accuracy and formulation of the network,… an idea Bitcoin – its semantics, its realism, its philosophy – is too widely distributed to be defeated. At this point, it has found its way into the minds of millions of people around the world. You could probably destroy the Internet, every other hard drive containing the blockchain, and every other computer running Bitcoin, but you would have to hunt down every last Bitcoiner to eliminate the idea of Bitcoin. And who knows, because of some mad scientist's uncontrollable actions, you might have to hunt them all down coli bacteriaalso.
This is a guest post by Daniel Howell. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
