[Fis] FIS: a definition of information

Dear Soeren and colleagues,
 
It is not the gesture or the expression itself which carries the
communication, but the code that provides the expression or gesture with
meaning. These do no longer have to be expressed in language because we are
able to use symbolically generalized media of communication. These can be
affective media, but also economic media. For example, instead of
negotiating with you about the price of something, I can just pay the price
using my credit card. This is a highly abstract operation that can only be
secured because of the sharing of culture.
 
Similarly, with bodily gestures. I don't wish to deny that we are sometimes
behaving like apes, but even this is encadred as a specific domain of human
communication. The functional differentiation of the coding feeds back on
what was previously not yet differentiated (e.g., considered "natural"). But
once the richer format of communication has become available, the old forms
are overwritten and provided with new meaning. The expression of aggression
also obtains symbolic meaning. The cultural layer overwrites the natural one
by making more dimensions of the communication possible.
 
With kind regards,
 
 
Loet
 
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Loet Leydesdorff
Science & Technology Dynamics, University of Amsterdam
Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR)
Kloveniersburgwal 48, 1012 CX Amsterdam
Tel.: +31-20-525 6598; fax: +31-20-525 3681
[email protected]; http://www.leydesdorff.net

******************************************************************
Loet Leydesdorff
Science & Technology Dynamics, University of Amsterdam,
Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences,
OZ Achterburgwal 237
1012 DL Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Tel: +31-20- 525 65 98
fax: +31-20- 525 20 86

loet@leydesdorff.net
http://www.leydesdorff.net/

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Received on Mon Feb 23 17:35:21 2004