Bolinska, Agnes (2024) Models of Information in Structural Biology. In: UNSPECIFIED.
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Abstract
On the hierarchical picture of models, theoretical models are constructed on the basis of theory and assessed by comparison to distinct models constructed from empirical data. Using the determination of the structure of the folded polypeptide chain as a case study, I instead argue that information from theory and data alike can be interpreted as constraints in the construction of models of information. On this view, more reliable information ought to be prioritized, sometimes forcing reinterpretations of less reliable information; information from theory and data is thus interdependent. I show how the reliability of information can be assessed, arguing that the evidence for a planar peptide bond was stronger and more secure than the evidence for a repeating subunit every 5.1 Å, and that disciplinary origin in physics or biology is immaterial to assessing reliability. I further show how models are assessed alongside interpretations of information in a coherentist manner: a better model accommodates more information, particularly reliable information; a model’s inability to accommodate some information necessitates reinterpreting that information.
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| Item Type: | Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED) | ||||||
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| Keywords: | hierarchy of models; protein structure; alpha helix; X-ray crystallography; Linus Pauling; models; information; data; theory | ||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Data Specific Sciences > Biology > Molecular Biology/Genetics General Issues > Evidence General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > Models and Idealization |
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| Depositing User: | Dr. Agnes Bolinska | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 13 Nov 2024 13:33 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 13 Nov 2024 13:33 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 24213 | ||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Data Specific Sciences > Biology > Molecular Biology/Genetics General Issues > Evidence General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > Models and Idealization |
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| Date: | 2024 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/24213 |
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