Life is like a computer

Computers are comprised of hardware and software. The hardware is the physical components that enable data input, data processing and data output. The software is the programs (language) that provide instructions for the hardware that enables data input, data processing and data output. The software is information (language) that is coded on part of the hardware.

Living organisms are comprised of matter and information. The matter is the physical components of the organism associated with the processes that enable it to grow, live and reproduce. The information is the instructions (language) for the hardware that enables the processes that enable it to grow, live and reproduce. This information is not only about the adult stage, but also about the various developmental stages towards adulthood. This information is coded on part of the hardware.

A living cell is not a random collection of chemicals, but an incredibly complex machine controlled by information stored in a computer-like program.

Reproduction of life

Every living thing must be able to reproduce. This means that it must contain stored information about its construction, its life processes and the process of its own replication. The information that drives the reproducing machinery of living things involves a purpose. But matter itself cannot formulate a purpose. Purpose can only be formulated by a person: a being with a will, and a sense of the future.

Living things are programmed to make copies of themselves and to pass on those programs to their descendants. The information is ‘written’ in DNA code on a helix of special molecules. For the origin of living things there is only one possibility: a supernatural Creator. The coded instructions for reproduction point to a supernatural mind which existed before life in the physical universe began.

Lessons for us

The information component of life is like computer software that controls the hardware component of life. You can’t have one without the other. As such information can only be created by a mind which must have preceded the creation of life, it can only be explained by a pre-existing supernatural Creator.

References

Howard G, 2011, “And then there was life”, J Creation, 34,2,16-17.

Howard G, 2014, “Reproduction: the essential sign of life: What can a coffee table teach us about the beginning of life?”, J Creation, 36,3, 48-50.

Written, September 2024

Also see: The creation information barrier