Sharov Alexei A
Biosemiotics. 2009 Apr 1;2(1):101-115. doi: 10.1007/s12304-008-9032-2.
Functional information means an encoded network of functions in living organisms from molecular signaling pathways to an organism's behavior. It is represented by two components: code and an interpretation system, which together form a self-sustaining semantic closure. Semantic closure allows some freedom between components because small variations of the code are still interpretable. The interpretation system consists of inference rules that control the correspondence between the code and the function (phenotype) and determines the shape of the fitness landscape. The utility factor operates at multiple time scales: short-term selection drives evolution towards higher survival and reproduction rate within a given fitness landscape, and long-term selection favors those fitness landscapes that support adaptability and lead to evolutionary expansion of certain lineages. Inference rules make short-term selection possible by shaping the fitness landscape and defining possible directions of evolution, but they are under control of the long-term selection of lineages. Communication normally occurs within a set of agents with compatible interpretation systems, which I call communication system. Functional information cannot be directly transferred between communication systems with incompatible inference rules. Each biological species is a genetic communication system that carries unique functional information together with inference rules that determine evolutionary directions and constraints. This view of the relation between utility and inference can resolve the conflict between realism/positivism and pragmatism. Realism overemphasizes the role of inference in evolution of human knowledge because it assumes that logic is embedded in reality. Pragmatism substitutes usefulness for truth and therefore ignores the advantage of inference. The proposed concept of evolutionary pragmatism rejects the idea that logic is embedded in reality; instead, inference rules are constructed within each communication system to represent reality and they evolve towards higher adaptability on a long time scale.
功能信息指的是生物体中从分子信号通路到生物体行为的编码功能网络。它由两个部分组成：代码和一个解释系统，二者共同构成一个自我维持的语义封闭。语义封闭允许组件之间存在一定的自由度，因为代码的小变化仍然是可解释的。解释系统由推理规则组成，这些规则控制代码与功能（表型）之间的对应关系，并决定适应度景观的形状。效用因子在多个时间尺度上起作用：短期选择推动进化朝着给定适应度景观内更高的存活率和繁殖率发展，而长期选择则有利于那些支持适应性并导致某些谱系进化扩张的适应度景观。推理规则通过塑造适应度景观和定义可能的进化方向使短期选择成为可能，但它们受谱系长期选择的控制。通信通常发生在一组具有兼容解释系统的主体之间，我将其称为通信系统。功能信息不能在具有不兼容推理规则的通信系统之间直接传递。每个生物物种都是一个遗传通信系统，它携带独特的功能信息以及决定进化方向和限制的推理规则。这种关于效用与推理关系的观点可以解决实在论/实证主义与实用主义之间的冲突。实在论过度强调推理在人类知识进化中的作用，因为它假设逻辑嵌入在现实中。实用主义用有用性取代真理，因此忽略了推理的优势。所提出的进化实用主义概念拒绝逻辑嵌入现实的观点；相反，推理规则是在每个通信系统内构建以表征现实的，并且它们在长时间尺度上朝着更高的适应性进化。
