Information. It is a word which, like many others today, is used in all sorts of contexts and has been embedded in our daily language to the extent that we no longer think about its original meaning. Literally, in-form-ation refers to being ‘in the form’ (formed, made), or to giving form (to an idea or inspiration). But without exception, information can be observed only when something (some thing, fact or experience, for instance) can be distinguished from the rest. To state it briefly: if everything were the same, homogenous mess, there would be nothing to say about it.
So it starts with differentiation. And the first differentiation happens very early in the history of the living universe: when the first cell surrounds itself with a membrane, it distinguishes itself from the rest of the world. Would it be here that we find the seeds of consciousness?
