The Bactra Review Spikes
The assumption that information can only be conveyed by means of a code is a
very old and deeply ingrained one, at least in the Western tradition. It is
not, however, true, and creatures with enough smarts can communicate without
using a fixed correspondence between signs and meanings, without using a code.
On this point see Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson's Relevance: Cognition
and Communication (2nd edition, Oxford: Blackwell, 1995), particularly
their account of ``ostensive-inferential communication.'' An individual neuron
is, however, far too stupid to make use of anything other than a code.