I think Tom is right that the path to solving mysteries like this is often to
look outward rather than inward. Part of the point of William James's somewhat
mysterious Stream of Consciousness expositions was to point out that at the
most basic level experience is a unified whole - i.e. the
A fascinating thing for me is that the amount of surprise (i.e.
information) is like the creating of a *knowledge gradient* that
compares in an interesting way to energy gradients within
thermodynamics. And one might suggest that *observation* can
counter-act the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics by
Yes, but that firecracker -- as data not information -- needs to be
understood in some context of space/time. A firecracker in my backyard on a
4th of July afternoon is quite different than a firecracker of equal size
throw at cops during a riot.
Could it be that what you call a
On Sat, Jun 18, 2011 at 9:53 PM, Tom Johnson t...@jtjohnson.com wrote:
Yes, but that firecracker -- as data not information -- needs to be
understood in some context of space/time. A firecracker in my backyard on a
4th of July afternoon is quite different than a firecracker of equal size
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Quote of the week
Nick: Next you are in town, lets read the original Shannon paper together.
Alas, it is a bit long, but I'm told its a Good Thing To Do.
-- Owen
On Jun 6, 2011, at 7:44 AM, Nicholas Thompson wrote:
Grant,
This seems backwards to me, but I
Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Quote of the week
Nick: Next you are in town, lets read the original Shannon paper together.
Alas, it is a bit long, but I'm told its a Good Thing To Do.
-- Owen
On Jun 6, 2011, at 7:44 AM, Nicholas Thompson wrote:
Grant
.
Nick
From: friam-boun...@redfish.com [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf
Of Grant Holland
Sent: Sunday, June 05, 2011 11:07 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group; Steve Smith
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Quote of the week
Interesting note on information and uncertainty
...@redfish.com] On Behalf
Of Grant Holland
Sent: Sunday, June 05, 2011 11:07 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group; Steve Smith
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Quote of the week
Interesting note on information and uncertainty...
Information is Uncertainty. The two words are synonyms
, 2011 11:07 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group; Steve Smith
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Quote of the week
Interesting note on information and uncertainty...
Information is Uncertainty. The two words are synonyms.
Shannon called it uncertainty, contemporary Information theory calls
Is anybody else tickled at how this Quote Of The Week elicited a flood of
philosophical observations?
--Doug
On Sun, Jun 5, 2011 at 1:15 PM, Robert Holmes rob...@holmesacosta.comwrote:
From the BBC's science podcast The Infinite Monkey
Cagehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/timc
:
Oops. I meant to say I am very tickled! (not ticked :-{ )
Grant
On 6/6/11 9:48 AM, Grant Holland wrote:
I'm very ticked. The point seems to be that one pick your favorite -
philosophy, physics,... is supreme within some dependency hierarchy
of disciplines.
I wondering, epistemologically, if
Of *Grant Holland
*Sent:* Sunday, June 05, 2011 11:07 PM
*To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group; Steve Smith
*Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] Quote of the week
Interesting note on information and uncertainty...
Information is Uncertainty. The two words are synonyms.
Shannon called
Doug -
Is anybody else tickled at how this Quote Of The Week elicited a flood
of philosophical observations?
--Doug
Utterly pink! PINK I tell you! And you are making it worse with your
own tickling! /STO/!
I just deleted one of my typical DNRTL (did not read, too long)
missives and
Steve, I promised myself I wouldn't do this, speaking of too long and
don't read and all.
But do you know how powerful you are, just by being superhumanly
articulate?
With one line, emphasizing knowing versus understanding, you directed
the whole stream into a conversation about information
Eric -
But do you know how powerful you are, just by being superhumanly
articulate?
Coming from you, of all people, this itself is a supreme compliment!
One of the reasons I am on this list (and actually read most of it's
traffic!) is that there are a number of incredibly articulate people,
From the BBC's science podcast The Infinite Monkey
Cagehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/timc
:
Philosophy is to physics as pornography is to sex. It's cheaper, it's
easier and some people seem to prefer it.
—R
FRIAM Applied
On Sun, Jun 5, 2011 at 1:15 PM, Robert Holmes rob...@holmesacosta.comwrote:
From the BBC's science podcast The Infinite Monkey
Cagehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/timc
:
Philosophy is to physics as pornography is to sex. It's cheaper, it's
easier and some people seem to prefer it.
/Philosophy is to physics as pornography is to sex. It's cheaper,
it's easier and some people seem to prefer it.
/
Modern Physics is contained in Realism which is contained in
Metaphysics which I contained in all of Philosophy.
I'd be tempted to counter:
/Physics is to
Richard Feynman said, Physics is like sex. It has useful
applications, but that's not why we do it.
An enterprising physics professor at U Texas Austin, who did lots of
innovative things to induce more students to major in physics, made up
lots of T-shirts with this quote. They were very popular.
In fact, one could draw a parallel in my just-posted query between
physics on the science side, and fundamentalist Christians on the
other side. Both have a tendency, carried to extremes by some
proponents, of claiming omniscience. Perhaps that Omni is the clue.
Omni - science. Thou shalt
One things many philosophers might point out in response to such an assertion,
is that we don't have a very good handle on the notion of determined'. In
fact, there are quite a few big-named dead white guys, who would say that
physical causality and mental causality are equally illusory (and by
Alan Costall, by way of Eric Charles Sez:
/naive realism leads to physics, and that physics undercuts naive
realism, leaving the whole thing a big mess
/
It's a bit wordy for a Zen Koan but I think he's on the right track!
One things many philosophers might point out in response to
Interesting note on information and uncertainty...
Information is Uncertainty. The two words are synonyms.
Shannon called it uncertainty, contemporary Information theory calls
it information.
It is often thought that the more information there is, the less
uncertainty. The opposite is the
Hmmm . . .
I would say this just slightly differently -- the amount of information an
observer gains from observing an event is equal to the decrease in uncertainty
the observer has from observing the event (e.g., if I am almost certain an
event will occur, I gain almost no information from
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