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The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that energy as a whole becomes less orderly
over time in a closed system. So, in the beginning, 'energy as a whole' would have been a
heavily integrated system. Statistically, as configurations were at their lowest amount,
Shannon information would've had few variables. In fact, at this point most actualities
would only have been possibilities. What set off the Planck epoch of inflation, then, can
be explained by Landauer's Principle in which an erasure of the universe's information
may have released a dissipated amount of symmetry-breaking heat. What was once
infinite density would have then expanded exponentially until repulsive vacuum decay
caused the 'Big Bang.' This first burst of energy was from which lesser organized
phenomena would emerge and develop, including consciousness. This is due to a form of
'natural selection' recently discovered in the field of thermodynamics called 'dissipative
adaptation,' which even applies to inorganic matter. Yet if consciousness comes from
highly organized systems — as currently theorized by Integrated Information Theory,
then the initial state of energy would have had conscious properties, as well.
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So information entropy is more qualitative than is thermal entropy. It is also more
subjective and internalized (e.g., regarding certainty vs. uncertainty). As it's subjective,
information entropy is more location-specific, as well.
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Life-like restructuring can occur anytime a ‘heat bath’ is
driven by an external energy source. Living matter simply better captures and dissipates
energy as heat. 'You start with a random clump of atoms, and if you shine light on it for
long enough, it should not be so surprising that you get a plant' (Wotchover 2014).
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Landauer's principle credited as being first cause, one may ask: what
could have been an absence of information that itself contains no information, yet adds to
information?
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Over all, the vantage point of the 'it'-from-bit involves the logically prior principle
of 'natural selection.' Order is locally created by things distributing energy, and thus
conserving it. Such a process suggests that 'life' — as Lovelock defined it, is inherent to
the universe. This is because of its very contents.
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