Re: Again on physics, entropy and information

Dear colleagues,

just a small remark concerning Shannon:
there is no transmission of information
within this theory, there is *only* a
transmission of a *message*. This is
a very important distinction, as
information is, as you know, *just*
the amount of uncertainty and
therefore it does not reduces
uncertainty, all the contrary: the
more information, the more
uncertainty. This is what Weaver
found *counterintuitive* with regard
to the everyday use of this concept
(remember that there is no plural
of 'information' in English!)

Concerning the quatification of
the impact of the *message* on
the receiver, this is another story
and concerns, IMO, different levels
(starting with the physical *constraints*
as Christoph mentions)

Rafael
Received on Thu May 30 18:25:44 2002