Apollo 11, The Sistine Chapel, and un-educated fleas: how communication is both effortlessly simple and ineffably complex (at the same time):
The fundamental organic process of communication, the instinctive process that forms the basis of the functions of the nervous system, the brain, all understanding, intelligence, and language use, can be most simply described as: (Where information is anything that exists or can be imagined, and idea is any information that is connected to, or can be connected to, the first information .) Thus it is that, as far as the basic process of communication is concerned, it is simple enough for babies, bees, and even un- educated fleas to do it. The most basic idea we have about anything is emotional or sensational . If the process were only as described above we would only ever be able to react to any information with our instinctive feelings. However, as any idea is fundamentally information , as soon as this process begins, it is immediately recursive: Although, in fact, the commencement of the communicative process is akin to a stone being dropped into a pond, with rippl...