RE: [Fis] Entropy, Information and Quantum Coherence

Dear Guy,
 
In the social sciences it is usual to distinguish between "expected" and
"observed" (e.g., in the case of chi-square statistics) and it seems to
me that along these lines one can also meaningfully distinguish between
the traditions in information theory. The expected information content
of a message precedes the observation. It is an abstract and
mathematical concept, while the observed information assumes an (e.g.,
biological) observer.
 
Maturana & Varela (Autopoiesis and Cognition, 1980, at p. 90), for
example, typically formulated in the biological (and
systems-theoretical) tradition of self-organization theory: "Notions
such as coding and transmission of information do not enter in the
realization of a concrete autopoietic system because they do not refer
to actual processes in it." These authors typically refer to "actual
processes" of realization which imply the specification of a system of
reference (e.g., an observer).
 
The specification of a system of reference provides the information with
meaning. In other words: something is then distributed and thus a
special theory of communication can be specified. For example, the
molecule may mean something for the cell. The expected information
content of a message, however, abstracts from the substance and is
contained only in the distribution.

> On Jun 4, 2004, at 5:10 AM, Koichiro Matsuno wrote:
>
> >
> > Information basically assumes the contrast between
> before and after
> > the act of measurement or experiencing.

Koichiro in this sentence perhaps moves too easily from the one concept
of information to the other by writing "measurement or experiencing". If
the distribution changes, a probabilistic entropy is produced. This is
still abstract and mathematical. If a system experiences a change in the
distribution, this implies an evaluation of that change within the
system and therefore meaningful information is generated (potentially
with a negative sign when the information reduces the uncertainty;
Brillouin).

I submit to distinguish sharply between Shannon-type information which
remains content-free (bits of information) and meaningful information
which is the result of an interaction between the Shannon-type
information and the system which provides the information with meaning.
While the first one can be considered as a variation or an uncertainty,
the latter is based on a selection. The selecting agent or discourse
determines the meaning of the information (as system of reference).

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
 <mailto:loet@leydesdorff.net> loet@leydesdorff.net ;
<http://www.leydesdorff.net/> http://www.leydesdorff.net/

 
 <http://www.upublish.com/books/leydesdorff-sci.htm> The Challenge of
Scientometrics ; <http://www.upublish.com/books/leydesdorff.htm> The
Self-Organization of the Knowledge-Based Society
Received on Sun Jun 6 17:09:13 2004