Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia;  Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.

Information
is
Beautiful

   Post 103.  November 14, 2019

  What is Information?

   The Power to Enform

 The Enformationism thesis and the BothAnd Blog are based on a multi-level understanding of the phenomenon known as “Information”. Unfortunately, most people have only a vague or general concept of what the term means scientifically and philosophically. So, in answer to a request for a general definition, as it “pertains to inorganic (physical), organic (biological), and semantic types of information”, I have defined “Information” in the context of various real-world instances of ubiquitous enforming power. Since Information Theory is a such broad topic, I have expanded the applications beyond the three suggested. But this just scratches the surface.

Information :
Knowledge and the ability to know. It’s also what you know. But technically, it's the ratio of order to disorder, of positive to negative, of knowledge to ignorance. It's measured in degrees of uncertainty. Those ratios are also called "differences". So Gregory Bateson1 defined Information as "the difference that makes a difference". The latter distinction refers to "value" or "meaning". Babbage called his prototype computer a "difference engine". Difference is the cause or agent of Change. In Physics it’s called "Thermo-dynamics" or "Energy". In Sociology it’s called "Conflict".     http://blog-glossary.enformationism.info/page11.html

Abstract Information : the 1s & 0s of computer language. Existence = 1, Non-existence = 0

Physical Information : Energy - e.g. the ratio between Hot & Cold. Energy is the causal power of Information.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_information

Material Information : E=MC\2. Mass is Enformed Energy, and is an essential property of Matter. "the equation says that energy and mass (matter) are interchangeable; they are different forms of the same thing."    https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/einstein/ ... 2expl.html

Shannon Information : The abstract ratio of One to Zero. It yields accuracy in computation, but omits any meaning or significance. Quantity without Quality. Like language, its utility is in its ability to mean anything you want to convey.

Organic Information : Living organisms are defined and organized by their "Information Molecule", which we call DNA.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA

Semantic Information : Meaning in a conscious mind; for example the relationship between Self and Other. It can be expressed mathematically as a numerical ratio, or emotionally as a positive/negative feeling.
   https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/info ... -Semantic/

NOTE : Originally, before Shannon, the word "Information" meant that-which-Informs or educates (i.e. knowledge). Literally, it means to give definite Form to the Amorphous. Metaphorically, to create Order out of Chaos. To know; to be aware, is to be Conscious.    

Next page has excerpts from the Forum to illustrate what provoked the questions about Information, and the incredulous responses to my answers :                           

                   Post 103 continued . . . click Next

INFORMATION REFERENCES

Post 75 : Information Realism
http://bothandblog4.enformationism.info/page18.html

Post 80 : Information – Shannon vs Deacon
http://bothandblog4.enformationism.info/page26.html

Post 100 : Body, Mind, & Information.
http://bothandblog6.enformationism.info/page6.html

Cosmic Blueprint
___Davies, Paul

The Stuff of Thought
___Pinker, Steven

Decoding the Universe
___Seife, Charles

From Matter to Life : Information and Causality
___Walker, et al

The Demon in the Machine :
Hidden webs of Information
___Davies, Paul

PHI -  φ
Integrated Information Theory
___Tononi, Giulio

Information and the Nature of Reality : From Physics to Metaphysics
___Davies & Gregerson, ed.

Paul Davies : What is Information? "the primary stuff, out of which the physical world is built".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7EjwUp5krY

What is physical Information? : "photons & Information are the same thing"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or8Rktj_HA4

1. Vive La Difference :
   To differentiate is to divide perception into its inherent parts : this is not that. Such reductive negation is the basis of quantitative modern Science. But Bateson was also known for his own holistic and qualitative ap-proach to knowledge. This was an acknowledgement that our analytical ideas are artificial constructs, as in the Semantic scholar Alfred Korzybski’s aphorism : “the Map is not the Territory”. So, the Holistic method is an attempt to understand reality as it truly is : ding an sich.  

Information Philosopher : "Information is neither matter nor energy, although it needs matter to be embodied and energy to be communicated. Why should it become the preferred basis for all philosophy?"
http://www.informationphilosopher.com/introduction/information/

Information is Energy
“Information and causation are one and the same thing”
___Giulio Tononi , Phi

Philosophy Forum :
Is Consciousness a Feeling?

What is Information?

https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/comment/352174