Information: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) by Floridi Luciano

Author:Floridi, Luciano [Floridi, Luciano]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2010-02-24T16:00:00+00:00

12. Maxwell’s demon

The conclusion is that information is a physical phenomenon, subject to the laws of thermodynamics. Or so it seemed until recently. For our story has an open ending. Landauer’s principle is not a law and it has been challenged, in recent years, for actually presupposing, rather than supporting, the second law of thermodynamics. Moreover, one may argue that it is logically possible (although not physically feasible, but then this is why the demon is a thought experiment not a blueprint) that the demon may not need to erase its memory. If no information is ever erased, all his other computations may in principle be achieved in ways that are thermodynamically reversible, requiring no release of heat and hence no increase in entropy. We would end with a draw: proving that the system does not run for free, but failing to make the demon pay for the energy bill. Bloated with ever increasing amounts of recorded data, the demon would represent an ever-expanding space of memories.

Our sceptic may have a last objection. Maxwell’s demon can see and manipulate single particles. If it were a quantum computer, couldn’t this provide a solution to the amount of informational resources needed to defeat the second law of thermodynamics? The short answer is no; the long answer requires a new section.

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