Storing Seeds in DNA: Bitcoin as Information

I recently converted the Bitcoin seed phrase into a DNA sequence. Because I can. By using only the first four letters of the BIP39 seed word, a 12-word seed phrase can be stored in just 48 DNA nucleotides. (For comparison, the average gene is several thousand nucleotides long, and the entire human genome contains more than 3 billion nucleotides.) Any genetics graduate student can turn my seed word sequence into an actual strand of DNA in just a few days and transform that DNA into DNA. You can insert it in . E. coli or other hosts suitable for storage (and reproduction) inside living organisms.

DNA is just one way to store and transmit information. There are many ways to do this, and once information is widely distributed, it is nearly impossible to perish. This makes it impossible to stop Bitcoin globally through regulation, legislation, or violence. The simple fact that Bitcoin private keys can be stored in DNA shows that attempts to ban Bitcoin are futile. Once information is made public, it is difficult to suppress.

So why is it so difficult to include information? Perhaps because information is the fundamental entity of the universe. For centuries, scientists thought the universe was made up only of matter and energy. Today we know that it is made up of matter, energy and information. Information can be stored in matter and transmitted using energy, but the information itself is not. Einstein showed that matter and energy are interchangeable (E=mc2). entire It cannot be created or destroyed. In contrast, information can be created and destroyed, but neither is easy. And once information is created and widely distributed, it becomes increasingly difficult to destroy.

part of information

Information is transmitted and received between two or more parties. This is done according to the sender’s purpose and is intended to facilitate the recipient’s work. Information has five hierarchical components:

1. fidelity
2. Syntax (code or grammar)
3. Semantics (meaning)
4. Pragmatics (action)
5. Apobetics (Purpose)

fidelity

Fidelity is the lowest element of information, but it is absolutely necessary for successful transmission. At one time, it was a major issue with mobile phones and Internet communications. remember “Can you hear me now?” advertisement? As technology advanced, low fidelity eventually became high fidelity (which, oddly enough, became wireless fidelity, or Wi-Fi). In general, we don’t care about fidelity unless it’s lacking. (Can you hear me now?)

code and language

Syntax refers to the code or grammar used to transmit information. A code is a set of symbols that represent bits of information that can be interconnected in time or space. That is, symbols can be linked together in time or space to achieve the next level of information (semantics). The symbols used can vary widely. These include, among other things, the letters that make up the alphabet, hand gestures (such as American Sign Language), musical notes (such as traditional modem connections and touch-tone telephones), or nucleotides in DNA and RNA. The number of symbols used may also vary. Most alphabets use 20 to 35 letters, the nucleotide code uses four chemicals (abbreviated as A, U, C, and G), and the binary code used in computers uses two letters to represent the on and off states. There are only two symbols (0 and 1). The number and type of symbols used are not chosen randomly. This may be determined, for example, by transmission mode or to meet specific requirements (Table 1).

Table 1: You can choose a transmission mode or symbol to meet your specific requirements.

A common code is essential for information to be transmitted successfully. This means that the code must be known to both the sender and the recipient. Additionally, because the code itself is not information, but simply an information provider, certain codes translated With different code. For example, human languages ​​can be translated into each other.

Go and speak to the mountain…

Go to the mountain and talk…

Go to the other side of the mountain…

The phrase above can also use the human eyes, brain, and mouth to translate symbols on a page into sound waves (acoustic symbols) in the air. Radio waves transmitted through space are picked up by the space station’s antenna and converted back into electrical signals, which are then converted back into sound waves by speakers to be heard by other people. In the human astronaut’s ears, signals are converted from air waves into fluid waves in the cochlea and then into electrical nerve impulses that are transmitted to the brain and interpreted by neurons. In the brain, these neurons somehow make sense of the original string of symbols and this guides us to the next level of information, meaning or significance.

Semantics, pragmatics, apobetics

Semantics is the meaning or intent of a message (a string of symbols). Giving meaning to symbols is a mental process. This happens at the human level, not the machine level. When I read a book, I don’t care about fidelity (unless it’s lacking) or syntax (unless the grammar is terrible or the language I don’t understand). Instead you are interested in: meaning It is conveyed through messages, i.e. semantics. Computers can easily store and transmit information and even perform logical operations through transistors, but they cannot interpret information meaningfully like humans. Do Raspberry Pi nodes, hardware wallets or ASICs understand Bitcoin like humans do? I do not think so.

The purpose of meaningful communication is to induce the recipient to take some action. These behavioral goals represent a practical level of information. The reason the sender is requesting this response is because of the purpose of the information, i.e. the level of information is low. This highest level of information requires true information about both parties and even the will. It remains to be seen whether computers can have will.

“Go and speak to the mountain…” ” is a set of symbols (code) that creates a meaningful message (semantics) while the sender expects a certain response (apobetic) from the receiver (pragmatics). A message can only be received if it is sent properly (with good fidelity).

Bitcoin as Information

Bitcoin (program) is computer code written in a specific coding language. From software to blockchain to key pairs in wallets, Bitcoin is information. This information can be stored, transmitted, and replicated on a flash drive, printed book, or DNA molecule. They are now so widely distributed that they are virtually impossible to destroy at this point. Politicians and bankers may not like it, but the genie is out of the bottle and there’s no stopping it now. As they say, you can’t ban Bitcoin, you can only ban the use of Bitcoin.

Fidelity and syntax are the working parts of information. Semantics, pragmatics, and apobetics are higher level information related to the purpose and response of intelligent beings based on the meaning of the message. In Bitcoin, fidelity (clarity of transmission) is achieved through the Internet (also achieved through HAM radio) connecting a network of nodes, miners, and wallets. Bitcoin’s syntax consists of Bitcoin Core and the coding language used to write and run related software on the device. The meaning or semantics of Bitcoin is that it is a perfectly rare and immutable digital token. Bitcoin’s highest goals – pragmatism and negativity – are evidenced by the miners, nodes and users who operate their wallets, all motivated by the desire to protect their wealth from theft, be it robbery or depreciation.

The Internet is now a mature, high-fidelity communication system. It cannot be destroyed without simultaneously destroying humanity as we know it. The computer code and language used by Bitcoin are sufficiently distributed that their removal is essentially impossible. But even if we could somehow destroy the fidelity and syntax of the network. idea Bitcoin’s semantics, pragmatics, and denialism are too widely distributed to be defeated. At this point, it has become entrenched in the minds of millions of people around the world. You could probably destroy the Internet, every hard drive that has a blockchain, every computer that runs Bitcoin, but eradicating the idea of ​​Bitcoin would require tracking down every Bitcoin user. And who knows, you might have to keep track of it all due to the uncontrollable actions of some mad scientist. E. colido.

This is a guest post by Daniel Howell. The opinions expressed are solely personal and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.