@Kihbernetics
My immediate reaction to the abstract is that "gene sequence : folded protein :: linguistic symbol : the symbol's ground" is only a metaphor, and not necessarily a source of correct conclusions. I guess I should read the paper though. :)
@ceoln
Please do. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. Pattee has more than 100 papers freely available on the Academia site and each one of them is a gem.
He is the only author I know with whom I have difficulty finding anything in their thinking that needs to be corrected or argued about.