Hi, The commutative triangle model of semiosis provides a convenient method for distinguishing between "interactions" and "communications":
f g Object ----------> Sign ----------> Interpretant | ^ | | |___________________________| h Figure 1. A category-theoretical model of smiosis. f = sign production; g = sign interpretation; h = information flow, with the commutative condition, f x g = h, satisfied. Step h simply means that no information would flow from the utterer to the hearer unless and until they agree on the meaning the sign. In other words, without Step h, Steps f and g can only transfer ENERGY from the utterer to the hearer but not INFORMATION. For example, if a Norwegian says something to me in his/her native lounge, I would not receive any information, although his/her voice would reach my ear drums and excite neurons in my auditory cortex. That is, the Norwegian and I will interact through sound waves but would not communicate. Applying this argument to biosemiotics, I would predict that physicochemical interactions among abiotic molecules cannot carry out smiosis unless they constitute parts of a commutative triangle with Step h in operation. For example, the chemical reaction, 2 H_2 + O_2 -----> 2 H_2O, is not a semiosis because this reaction is not a triadic process but a monadic one (i.e., there is only one chemical step) and hence cannot constitute an irreducibly triadic system as all semiosic processes are. With all the best. Sung -- Sungchul Ji, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy Rutgers University Piscataway, N.J. 08855 732-445-4701 www.conformon.net
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