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Ryan Collison

I write about cool science and share it here.

Conceptual assembly visualization showing thought structures building from simple to complex

From Molecules to Meaning: Can Assembly Theory Scale to Cognitive Systems?

From Molecules to Meaning: Can Assembly Theory Scale to Cognitive Systems? Series: Assembly Theory | Part: 6 of 9 In the first five parts of this series, we explored Lee Cronin's audacious proposal that complexity can be measured through assembly—that the difference between life and non-life isn&

Molecular assembly pathway with constructor catalysts facilitating transformations

Selection as Constructor: Where Assembly Theory Meets Constructor Theory

Selection as Constructor: Where Assembly Theory Meets Constructor Theory Series: Assembly Theory | Part: 5 of 9 There's a puzzle at the heart of complexity science: How do you explain the existence of things that seem impossible to make by chance alone? A bacterium. A Boeing 747. A Beethoven

Information theory vs assembly theory visualization showing pattern compression vs construction depth

Beyond Shannon: How Assembly Theory Differs from Information Theory

Beyond Shannon: How Assembly Theory Differs from Information Theory Series: Assembly Theory | Part: 4 of 9 Claude Shannon's 1948 paper "A Mathematical Theory of Communication" gave us information theory—a way to measure surprise, redundancy, and the amount of data needed to transmit a message. It

Complex biological molecule visualized as luminous assembly pathway through construction space

Why Life Chemistry Is Special: What Assembly Theory Reveals About Biological Molecules

Why Life Chemistry Is Special: What Assembly Theory Reveals About Biological Molecules Series: Assembly Theory | Part: 3 of 9 You can make benzene in a lab with six carbon atoms and six hydrogen atoms. The assembly index is low—maybe 4 or 5 steps to construct the ring structure. You

Molecular construction pathway visualized as recursive assembly tree

Assembly Index: A New Way to Measure How Hard Something Is to Make

Assembly Index: A New Way to Measure How Hard Something Is to Make Series: Assembly Theory | Part: 2 of 9 Walk into any chemistry lab and ask about complexity. You'll get answers about molecular weight, entropy, reaction pathways, thermodynamic favorability. All useful metrics. None of them tell you

Molecular assembly sequence visualization showing construction history and complexity accumulation

The Chemist Measuring Complexity: Lee Cronin and the Revolution in Origin-of-Life Science

The Chemist Measuring Complexity: Lee Cronin and the Revolution in Origin-of-Life Science Series: Assembly Theory | Part: 1 of 9 In a Glasgow laboratory, a chemist is attempting something that sounds impossible: measuring what it means for something to be complex. Not complicated, not intricate, not merely hard to

Interference pattern visualization in cognitive state space representing meaning formation

Synthesis: What Non-Classical Probability Teaches About Meaning

Series: Quantum Cognition | Part: 9 of 9 When physicists first encountered quantum interference patterns in the early 20th century, they faced an uncomfortable truth: probability didn’t work the way everyone assumed. The numbers refused to add up in the classical sense. Particles seemed to “know” about paths not taken.