RE: [Fis] CONCLUDING THE SESSION

Watts are in units of energy. Degrees Kelvin (temperature) are in average energy per degree of freedom. The units are both energy. So entropy is dimensionless. Nonetheless, I agree that Shannon information and entropy should not be confused. The story is a longish one, but there is a way to bring the two into line. See my paper Causation is the Transfer of Information on my web page at http://www.nu.ac.za/undphil/collier/papers/causinf.pdf for my first attempt -- well, actually there is an earlier one written for a cog sci collection, Intrinsic Information: http://www.nu.ac.za/undphil/collier/papers/intrinfo.pdf

I am now working on a book chapter that uses Barwise and Seligman, Information Flow, assumes all classifications are dynamical, and gets the same result as my causation paper as a corollary. The book chapter is part of a four chapter book arguing for dynamical/structural realism in which the nature of the world is given by the topology of information flows.

John

Professor John Collier
Philosophy, University of Natal
Durban 4041 South Africa
T: +27 (31) 260 3248 / 260 2292
F: +27 (31) 260 3031
email: collierj@nu.ac.za

>>> "Loet Leydesdorff" <loet@leydesdorff.net> 10/08/03 04:45PM >>>

> Let me add that re-reading the recent messages another future
discussion to
organize should revolve around entropy --the numerous misunderstandings,
misconceptions, etc. surrounding it, precisely in its connection with
Shannon (for instance, arguing with Loet, thermodynamic entropy is
indeed
'dimensionless': it has units, but no dimensions, as 'temperature'
itself
has dimensions of energy--see John Collier excellent posting in this
list
about the subject-- and so they cancel each other). I also would like to

The probabilistic entropy (bits) should not be confounded with the
thermodynamic entropy which is defined in terms of Watts/Kelvin, isn't
it? The system of reference is in the thermodynamic case the movement of
particles in terms of energy and momenta.
 
 

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Received on Mon Oct 13 22:37:43 2003