CODE DUALITY
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 467 ▶ |
| Object type |
J. HOFFMEYER and C. EMMECHE introduced this notion (1991). Hoffmeyer writes: “Code duality refers to the fact that living systems always form a unity of two coded and interacting messages , the analogly coded message of the organism itself and its redescription in the digital code of DNA. As analog codes the organisms recognize and interact with each other in the ecological space giving rise to a horizontal semiotic system (the ecological hierarchy of Stanley SALTHE (1985), while as digital codes they are passively carried forward in time between generations (after eventual recombination through meiosis and fertilization in sexually reproducing species). This is of course responsible for nature's vertical semiotic system , the genealogical hierarchy ”(1998, p. 34)