Dear colleagues,
It seems important to distinguish between the expected information content
of a distribution (uncertainty) and meaningful information. The information
can be provided with meaning only by a system which has specific
characteristics and with reference to that system.
With kind regards,
Loet
________________________________
Loet Leydesdorff
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/
> -----Original Message-----
> From: fis-bounces@listas.unizar.es
> [mailto:fis-bounces@listas.unizar.es] On Behalf Of Shu-Kun Lin
> Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 10:15 AM
> To: Juan G Roederer
> Cc: kj04@chello.at; Dupagement@aol.com; Julio Stern;
> ssalthe@mail.binghamton.edu; fis@listas.unizar.es
> Subject: [Fis] Re: What is the definition of information ?
>
> Dear Juan,
>
> I reply my part:
> > Data compressed---seems related to the concept of
> algorithmic > information. But what is the definition of
"data"?
>
> What is data? Data are the things which are or can be
> recorded in notebooks, photo plates, magnetic tapes or floppy
> disks, or hard disks, in the amount with unit like bytes. If
> the data can be compressed to a size much smaller, we say the
> original data does not have much "information".
>
> If there are symmetries in a structure, the data representing
> that structure can be compressed. E.g., a picture has nothing
> on it (white everywhere) has very high symmetry and little
> information.
>
> Best regards,
> Shu-Kun
>
>
>
>
> Juan G Roederer wrote:
> > Dear Colleagues:
> >
> > For some time I have tried to post a message to the FIS
> list, without
> > success. I get all the messages but cannot send any out. So for the
> > time being I will respond only to those who have
> participated in the
> > current exchange. The message I wanted to post is the following:
> >
> > In view of the various definitions of information that are
> beginning
> > to circulate, time has come to announce the recent
> publication of my
> > book "Information and its Role in Nature" by
Springer-Verlag,
> > Heidelberg (May 2005). It addresses in detail the question
> at hand in all its facets:
> > classical and quantum information theory, biomolecular and neural
> > systems, and the human brain. It is available from
> springeronline.com,
> > amazon.com, etc.; the Table of Contents and Introduction can be
> > downloaded from my web page <http://www.gi.alaska.edu/~Roederer>
> >
> > The main thoughts I try to convey in my book are, inter
> alia: (i) we
> > need a concept of information that represents what
> information does,
> > not what it is "made of", or "how much" there is
of it; (ii)
> > information can be defined objectively, independently of
> human actions
> > and human-generated devices, only in the biological realm and for
> > those inanimate artifacts that are made by a living system;
> (iii) this
> > concept cannot be defined in just one short sentence; and (iv)
> > information as such plays no active role in natural purely physical
> > systems, i.e., it doesn't "do" anything out there---force
fields do
> > (e.g., the relation with entropy is in a physicist's
> brain). Once you
> > have glanced through the book, or read it, I shall be much
> obliged for
> > any comments and criticism, whether constructive or destructive!
> >
> > Concerning some of the definitions offered in the current
> discussion,
> > I have a few comments:
> >
> > Reduction of uncertainty---what exactly is the definition of
> > "uncertainty"? How would this apply to the information
> expressed, say,
> > by a genome?
> >
> > Constraints to entropy production---seems to me the same as
> reduction
> > of uncertainty, but it certainly is a more precise formulation for
> > certain systems in certain situations.
> >
> > Data compressed---seems related to the concept of algorithmic
> > information. But what is the definition of "data"?
> >
> > Points out one alternative among many---this is the usual
> definition
> > given in general science books, but again, how does this apply to
> > molecular biology?
> >
> > Property of conveying meaning---what exactly is the definition of
> > "meaning"? This, however, does relate to the concept of
> "purpose" (of
> > causing a change that otherwise would not occur or occur only by
> > chance). This, in particular, is discussed in detail in my book.
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Juan
> >
> > PS: Forgive me, if you receive the present message again
> later; maybe
> > my posting problem will be fixed soon.
> >
> > Juan G. Roederer
> > Professor of Physics Emeritus
> > Geophysical Institute
> > University of Alaska-Fairbanks
> >
> > Web Page: www.gi.alaska.edu/~Roederer
> >
> >
> >
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Received on Wed Aug 31 10:20:37 2005
