Information and Natural Languages

   In this first posting of mine to fis@listas.unizar.es,
I want to raise one point related to the issue of information
and invite any comments on it from our colleagues on the net.
That is about the relationship between what information is
all about and the capacity of our natural languages for the
job.

   If information is something out there, one might be able
to talk about it in the mode of the present tense. Shannon's
information could be quite satisfactory for the purpose
because of its objectification in the form of information
bits. On the other hand, if information is related to some
process in progress, the corresponding linguistic vehicle
must be in the mode of the present progressive tense. However,
statements in the present progressive tense are extremely
hard to be objectified in the usual sense of practicing
sciences. No refereed journal would accept papers written
exclusively in the present progressive tense. A live
broadcasting of whatever game in the field from one station
cannot claim its objectivity, because it may quite likely
collide with similar live broadcastings of the same game
from other stations. At issue is how to reach the present
tense (to be objectified) from the present progressive
tense (in the mode of a live broadcasting).

   Of course, Shannon's information is a legitimate
enterprise on information practiced in the present tense.
If there is one more legitimate attempt for the matter of
information, that might be to precipitate the present tense
from the present progressive tense. How about its
likelihood?

   Koichiro Matsuno
Received on Mon Dec 8 05:41:39 1997