Charles Chandler said:

The essential premise is that we, as biological organisms, receive information from the external world, process it, and then issue actions back into that world, which alter the conditions affecting us.

I have a different perspective. We're not "organisms". We're consciousness & subconsciousness that has caring, intention and decision. Consciousness consists of Perception, Thought and Emotion. Subconsciousness includes Memory and Will. Information exists in our Memory, not in an "external world". The "external world" consists only of our own Perceptions. The "external world" exists as virtual reality in our Memory and Perceptions. "God" is universal consciousness/subconsciousness. Instead of consciousness consisting of matter/energy/space, it seems more plausible that matter/energy/space consists of consciousness. Also, Caring seems to be the "Creator", the cause of everything, including consciousness/subconsciousness.