nucleation

LIT-1137: The information theory of individuality

1 min read

Properties5
StatusActive — read 2026-10-29 (NOTE-1400) in full, in the version of record (Europe PMC, CC BY) and the 2014 arXiv preprint; worth reading for the two decompositions of a system's one-step predictive information, A* + nC = I(S_{n+1}; E_n) + A, read as organismal (A*), colonial (A) and environmentally determined (nC) individuality, with the closure-implies-sufficiency lemma. Read it knowing that A* and A cannot decrease as the candidate system is enlarged, so they cannot find a boundary (THEORY-1163), which the 2020 version concedes by calling for a size cost it does not supply; that its partial information decomposition is left unspecified; that it offers one two-unit example and no algorithm; and that the 2014 preprint differs from the article in names, authors' order and content.
Version2
Tagscomplex-systems, individuation, information-theory
Cited as “paper” byNOTE-1400 — Krakauer et al. — The information theory of individuality
Cited as “source” byTHEORY-1163 — Krakauer et al.'s organismal and colonial individuality, A* = I(S_{n+1}; S_n) and A = I(S_{n+1}; S_n | E_n), cannot decrease when variables are moved from the environment into the candidate system, so maximizing either over candidate boundaries selects the largest candidate, and a boundary found this way needs a size cost the measures do not contain

Graph View

Krakauer, D., Bertschinger, N., Olbrich, E., Flack, J. C. & Ay, N. (2020). Theory in Biosciences 139(2):209–223. doi:10.1007/s12064-020-00313-7. arXiv preprint of 2014 (author order there ends Ay, Flack).

Read in full on 2026-10-29 (NOTE-1400). One account was drawn from it: THEORY-1163.

Why this is here

A10 and A11 of the exchange of 2026-10-16 put it first for the individuation problem. The record held Bourrat’s critique of its measures (LIT-005, NOTE-027) without the paper itself. Bears on QUESTION-115 and CASE-101. A reading should check A11’s claim that A* and A do not decrease as the candidate is enlarged, and the size cost the paper says is needed.

Backlinks