ABSTRACT
Physics is the quintessence of rate-dependence and computation of rate-independence, physics of the concrete and computation of the abstract. Imagine a continuum of abstraction anchored at each extreme by one of these universal models. Along the continuum between physics and computation reside three broad groupings: allosteric constraints, entangled sequences, and control hierarchies, with allosteric constraints near the physics terminus and control hierarchies near the computation terminus. Traveling from left to right, we see rate dependence slowly give way to rate independence. In the 16th century, Copernicus proposed that Earth orbits the Sun and not the other way around. Contrary to prevailing opinion, he argued that Earth is not special or privileged in the universe. Many scholars think that language makes humans special, that speech is the distinguishing characteristic of our species. My view is Copernican: human language is neither special nor privileged because it is a system of sequences, and in that it is not alone. Astrobiology suffers from the N = 1 problem, only one example of life from which to extrapolate. N = 2 is less of a problem, and a central conclusion of this book is that our sample size is twice as big as researchers have thought.
