Does DNA contain digital information?

[CoxRox]

Yes, DNA as a template is information. But that's true of any non-random arrangement of atoms susceptable to increases in entropy. A mold used to make plastic bottles is a template and container of information how the bottle will be shaped. A pebble embeded in beach sand is information on the shape of the hollow in sand in which it rests.

So the fact that DNA is information in itself does not distinguish it from literally any and everything in the universe. Literally everything in the universe from just above Plank scale to 14 billion light years is information.

I understand how 'everything' is information. Is it the case there are types of information that can only be a by-product of intelligence ie a mind? If we take the plastic mold- it needed a designer to develop it's specifications, then its production etc. It was developed deliberately with a purpose in mind, and so it existed as an idea in the mind of the developer first, before it was made. Going from that fairly simple 'design' , if we leap to a computer, then of course we know that it needs intelligent minds to build it.

I'd like to 'cite' this short computer animation of the inside of a cell as possible evidence for design. The animation starts at 1.18 and lasts a few minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSasTS-n_...52&index=1

(I think someone posted this up on another thread. I couldn't get the link up so not sure).

Does this animation truely reflect the parts and activities in the cell ie does it really 'look' like this in the cell? The first time I watched this, all the hairs stood up and I had goose bumps all over. I was blown away by how 'created' the 'machines' look that do all the activities with the dna and rna etc.

If this animation is a 'true' reflection of the cell and it's 'parts', then I can't begin to understand how natural selection could work on so many levels of order and construction. 'Machines' are needed to make the other machines ie the dna and rna etc. How did all the 'virtual' blueprints all come about at the same time, to be able to produce a cell? Everything seems to be 'packed' with the kind of intelligence that comes from a designer.

If I may link to another short video - I came across this video (under five minutes), of Steven Myers talking about the 'information' in the cell and he goes into greater detail about how the 'information' is recognisably similar to computer programming. I'd like someone to critique his points please. I don't know anything about computers, code etc, and so I'm at a disadvantage in fully understanding if what he and others like him, are arguing is true.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHzxWaDmg...52&index=4

Yes, the components of DNA is arranged in a particular way that transmits certain pieces of information. But how two rocks are piled on top of each other is also an arrangement that transmits information. Just as the rocks could be put there as a thoughfully arranged cairn to say something about a the boundaries of hiking path, it could also get there by falling at the distal end of a land slide and say something about the force and composition of the slide.


...........So there is no compelling evidence to say DNA's arrangement was the result of any delibration, even if natural selection ensured that those arrangement which survive in nature is far from random.

So is DNA a "real language"? If by "real language" you mean transmission of information that comes after delibration, then no, it is not a real language. There is no delibration. But there is information.

If the animation in that video is correct, then I am struggling to view dna etc as akin to rocks falling in a certain manner.

I look forward to your replies. Go easy on me, and try to word things as simply as possible.