Abstract
This essay presents functional definitions of information, intelligence, and agency. It then applies these concepts to describe: - How the universe is filled with packets of information, including photons and high-energy particles. - How human systems collect and correlate the information streaming around us, resulting in the growth of intelligence and agency. Finally, this essay answers the questions posed by this contest regarding the impact of unknowability and uncertainty on humanity’s understanding of the physical world.
Edward Kneller