Unlocking Divine Wisdom: Measuring Information Content in Christian Discernment

How is Information Content Measured?

In the field of information theory, measuring the content of information is not based on the number of traits but rather on what is referred to as "specified complexity" of a base sequence or protein amino acid sequence. Specified complexity is a term used to describe the amount of information contained in a sequence that is both specific and complex.

To understand how information content is measured, let's consider an example from Lee Spetner, an information theorist. He explains that the information content of an enzyme can be evaluated by looking at various factors such as the level of catalytic activity, specificity with respect to the substrate, strength of binding to cell structure, specificity of binding to cell structure, and specificity of the amino acid sequence dedicated to specifying the enzyme for degradation.

One way to estimate the information in an enzyme is by considering the change in information caused by a mutation. Spetner uses the example of substrate specificity to illustrate this. He suggests that the information content of an enzyme can be thought of as a filter, where the entropy (a measure of disorder) of the products after filtration is lower than the entropy of the original substrates. This decrease in entropy can be considered as an information gain.

Let's imagine a scenario where many copies of an enzyme are presented with a uniform distribution of substrates. If the enzyme has a higher activity on certain substrates, the concentration of those products will be more numerous compared to substrates with lower activity. The difference in entropy between the input (substrates) and output (products) distributions represents the information gain.

Spetner provides examples to illustrate this concept further. In one extreme case where there are multiple possible substrates but the enzyme only has activity on one specific substrate, there is perfect filtering. The entropy decrease resulting from this selectivity represents an information gain. On the other hand, if the enzyme does not discriminate among the substrates at all, the input and output entropies remain the same, resulting in a zero information gain.

It's important to note that calculating the total entropy decrease achieved by an enzyme's action is complex. However, by focusing on enzyme specificity alone, it is possible to calculate the entropy change. This allows for an estimation of the information content related to substrate specificity.

Why This Matters

Understanding how information content is measured is crucial in evaluating the claims made by young-earth creationists. The concept of specified complexity provides a framework for assessing the information content of biological systems, such as enzymes. By considering factors like catalytic activity, substrate specificity, and binding strength, scientists can estimate the amount of information required to achieve functional biological processes.

Creationists argue that the level of specified complexity observed in living organisms is evidence of an intelligent designer, rather than the result of naturalistic processes like evolution. They suggest that mutations leading to a decrease in specified complexity would represent a loss of information. This perspective raises questions about the ability of random mutations and natural selection to generate new genetic information over time.

Think About It

1. How does the concept of specified complexity challenge the idea that mutations can lead to an increase in genetic information?
2. Can you think of any other examples where specified complexity could be used to measure information content?
3. What are some potential limitations or criticisms of using specified complexity as a measure of information content?

Note: The original article included additional examples and discussions regarding evolutionist conclusions and conclusions drawn from experiments. For a more comprehensive understanding, please refer to the original source material.