• wonderer1
    2.3k


    So it seems you prefer to use the word "signs" where many other people are inclined to use the word "information". E.g. instead of someone saying that she is going to "gather information", you would prefer that she say she is going to "gather signs"?

    I'm curious to hear, where you want to go with this?
  • Patterner
    1.7k
    I've only read the OP so far. Apologies if I'm repeating what's been said.
    Does the information appear in our minds when we read our PC screen? Neither would be the case, is my theory. We function as another reader who transcribes and in which effects arise in our learned language and in our cognitive apparatus that in turn affect us as an organism.JuanZu
    I'm not sure how you mean all of this.

    Elecktra's first appearance was in Daredevil #168.
    I was born in 1963.
    The V of V in the key of C is the D chord.
    Richard the Lionheart died because a wound in his shoulder from a crossbow went gangrenous.
    The US once had a 20 cent coin.

    Surely there's something on that list you did not know a minute ago. The information is now in your mind, and it's there because you read your computer screen.
  • Bodhy
    37


    Because, information the way scientists tend to use it is an abstract, operationalized notion of information, Shannonian information. This is a measure of information which omits meaning and semantics, and also context - For Shannon information, it doesn't matter who sent the message, what they meant, how it was sent, and who receives it. All that matters is the intrinsic entropy of the signal, how much uncertainty there is in it and how many bit flips we need to reduce that uncertainty.

    Information in its richest full blooded reality, is semiosis, meaning. Information really is informare, to "put form into" - what we encounter as conscious agents is signs, signs which mean something for us as interpreters, not some abstract notion of information.
  • Rocco Rosano
    58
    RE: Information exists as substance-entity?
    SUBTOPIC: What is information?
    ⁜→ Bodhy, et al,

    (Alternative Opinion)

    • Information is not a "substance" of any kind; no matter what you are.

    • Information is not an "entity" either in reality or the supernatural.

    Information the way scientists tend to use it is an abstract,Bodhy
    (COMMENT)

    Scientists do not have a single way of using the term information:

    In terms of "Cognitive Science," → information is used to convey that (whatever it may be) for processing in terms of a network of interconnected units operating.

    Then there is "Communication Theory" the term is used to convey some measure of intelligence. This is not to be confused wth 'Information Science' in which various technologies are used to convey intelligence.

    Information in its richest full blooded reality, is semiosis, meaning. Information really is informare, to "put form into" - what we encounter as conscious agents is signs, signs which mean something for us as interpreters, not some abstract notion of information.Bodhy
    (COMMENT)

    I agree that the term "information" can be defined and used in this manner. In fact → I would go so far as to say it is a very common usage.

    Most Respectfully,
    R
  • JuanZu
    347
    Surely there's something on that list you did not know a minute ago. The information is now in your mind, and it's there because you read your computer screen.Patterner

    According to my theory, there is no information in that list, as if something passes from your mind to symbols on a screen. As I have tried to explain, the symbols on the screen have their own autonomy and cause effects in our learned language, generating meaning or information. In this sense, information never crosses anything but is constantly created. But we are under the illusion that something crossed from one mind to another, that we communicated something, when in reality what we have done is affect another person with the use of signs, causing meaning or information in that person.

    In other words, information is always provoked but is never something that crosses things like a ghost contained in signs.
  • JuanZu
    347
    Information in its richest full blooded reality, is semiosis, meaning. Information really is informare, to "put form into" - what we encounter as conscious agents is signs, signs which mean something for us as interpreters, not some abstract notion of information.Bodhy

    Exactly.
  • hypericin
    1.9k
    The information exists in the relationship between the two devices, the interpreting reader and the USB device. But then we cannot say that the information was contained in the USB stick as a ghost in the device.JuanZu

    But then, what is the difference between the reader-usb where the reader reads your porn collection, and where the reader reads an empty USB? That difference would seem to lie solely on the USB, not the reader, or the reader-usb complex. But if the difference between the information and no information case depends only on the USB, it would seem the information "lives", or not, on the USB alone.
  • Patterner
    1.7k
    According to my theory, there is no information in that list, as if something passes from your mind to symbols on a screen. As I have tried to explain, the symbols on the screen have their own autonomy and cause effects in our learned language, generating meaning or information. In this sense, information never crosses anything but is constantly created. But we are under the illusion that something crossed from one mind to another, that we communicated something, when in reality what we have done is affect another person with the use of signs, causing meaning or information in that person.JuanZu
    We did communicate something. With the use of signs.


    In other words, information is always provoked but is never something that crosses things like a ghost contained in signs.JuanZu
    Still, I had information in my mind, I wanted it in your mind, I took actions that I hoped would accomplish that goal, coding that information in the medium we are using to communicate, and that information is now in your mind. It's still the same information, but it changed form.

    All the information in anybody's DNA can be written down in the book, or entered into a computer. Again, it's the same information, but in different form.

    But you are right. There is no substance, not even ghost-like, that crosses over. I guess proof if that is when the receiver gets wrong information. Thinking I meant one thing when I meant another. That happens when you incorrectly interpret my signs. It wouldn't be possible if there was a substance going from my mind to yours. (A scenario that sounds like a fantasy/scifi story, and would lead to horrible manipulation.)
  • JuanZu
    347
    We did communicate something. With the use of signs.Patterner

    That depends on what we mean by "communicate". I claim that this communication consists solely of provoking significant effects from one person to another. In other words, through signs we provoke something in the other person's understanding. But nothing is transmitted. What we provoke is meaning, or information.

    Still, I had information in my mind, I wanted it in your mind, I took actions that I hoped would accomplish that goal, coding that information in the medium we are using to communicate, and that information is now in your mind. It's still the same information, but it changed form.

    All the information in anybody's DNA can be written down in the book, or entered into a computer. Again, it's the same information, but in different form.
    Patterner

    From my point of view, nothing is encoded as if we were locking a door with a key. What we call encoding is choosing a VERY SPECIFIC, unique series of signs that will have an effect on us or a machine. Signs that other people may not know, which is what makes encoding purpose. But the relationship is the same: one person utters signs and these have meaningful effects on another person. Here, meaning refers to the creation of something that did not exist before. A "Hello" appears in us as the creative effect of the series of signs we have heard.

    But you are right. There is no substance, not even ghost-like, that crosses over. I guess proof if that is when the receiver gets wrong information. Thinking I meant one thing when I meant another. That happens when you incorrectly interpret my signs. It wouldn't be possible if there was a substance going from my mind to yours. (A scenario that sounds like a fantasy/scifi story, and would lead to horrible manipulation.)Patterner

    Exactly.
  • Patterner
    1.7k
    That depends on what we mean by "communicate". I claim that this communication consists solely of provoking significant effects from one person to another. In other words, through signs we provoke something in the other person's understanding. But nothing is transmitted. What we provoke is meaning, or information.JuanZu
    Yes. That's how we communicate.
123Next
bold
italic
underline
strike
code
quote
ulist
image
url
mention
reveal
youtube
tweet
Add a Comment

Welcome to The Philosophy Forum!

Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.