Origin of Information Theory

How can a mind understand the origin of information when it must use information to understand it? 

Codexation refers to the process by which raw experience is encoded into symbols, meanings, and mental representations. The Codexation Dilemma describes the paradox that arises when a being tries to understand reality using only the symbolic tools it has created to interpret that reality.

In simpler terms:

The mind can only understand the world through codes it invented, but those codes may distort the world they attempt to describe.

This creates a dilemma with several layers.

Reality vs. Representation

Humans never access reality directly.

We access:

• sensory impressions
• mental models
• language
• symbols
• cultural constructs

These “codes” filter and reshape what we perceive.

Thus, we mistake our codex for the world itself.

The Origin Problem

If all knowledge is encoded, then the first code must have come from:

• chance (accidental experience), or
• choice (intentional exploration)

But whichever came first, the being still faces the same dilemma:

How can a mind understand the origin of information when it must use information to understand it?

This circularity is central to Lawsin’s origin‑of‑information theory.

The Caveman in the Box Connection

The Codexation Dilemma is tightly linked to the Caveman in the Box Trilogy.

Each isolated subject:

• has no inherited language
• no cultural symbols
• no pre‑existing codex

They must build their first codes from scratch.

But the moment they do, they become trapped in those codes—unable to perceive reality without them.

This is the dilemma:

The codex is necessary for understanding, but it also limits understanding.

The Human Limitation

This dilemma supports Lawsin’s idea of the Human Mental Handicap:

• Humans cannot escape their own codex.
• Every thought is shaped by symbols.
• Every symbol is shaped by prior experience.

Therefore, humans cannot perceive the world “as it is,” only “as encoded.”

The AI Paradox

It extends the dilemma to artificial intelligence:

If AI learns only from human‑made codes, it inherits human limitations.

If AI generates its own codes, it may escape the human handicap—but then becomes trapped in its own codex.

Either way, the dilemma persists.

The Codexation Dilemma is a paradox that asks a deceptively simple question: What is intelligence? What is knowledge? Are our ideas real, or merely assumptions we collectively agree to believe? At its heart, the dilemma challenges the boundary between the abstract and the physical—between thought and symbol, meaning and matter.

Take numbers as an example. Zero and One are abstract concepts; they do not exist in nature as physical objects. They exist only in the mind, by assumption. When we represent Zero with the symbol 0 and One with 1, the abstract numerals become numbers through association. These symbols appear to exist materially—ink on paper, pixels on a screen—yet their “existence” is borrowed from the physical medium, not inherent to the idea itself.

This raises the central question:

Does representing an idea physically make the idea real?  

If we write 0 and 1 on paper, do they now exist as physical entities? Or are they still abstractions, imagined and imaginary, merely given form through inscription and agreement? And if the physical representation is taken as evidence, how do we validate that evidence as true, valid, or real?

The dilemma suggests that no human can conceive an idea without anchoring it to something tangible borrowed from the external world. Thoughts and ideas do not float freely; they are always tied to physical references—objects, sensations, symbols, or experiences. In this view, ideas cannot exist independently of the physical world, because the mind requires something material to encode, represent, and validate them.