Hi,
(*1*) Information is triadic in that it has three mutually exclusive
aspects --
(i) *amount* (how many bits of information can your USB store ?),
(ii) *meaning* (What is the meaning of this series of DNA nucleotides ?),
and
(iii) *value *(What does this series of DNA nucleotides do for the living
cell?).
(*2*) Most definitions of information (e.g., Hartley, Shannon, von Neumann,
'Planckian information' [1], etc.) in the literature are in the form
of *mathematical
equations* and attempt to capture the *amount* of information and not the
meaning or value. There are about 40 different such quantitative
definitions of information discussed in [2].
(*3*) The main purpose of this post is to propose the following,
diagrammatic, definition of "information" that is inspired by the
definition of the sign given by Peirce as shown in (120815-2) and *Figure
1:*
"Information is anything that is transferred from
*B* to *C* mediated by *A*."
(120815-1)
Please note that the placeholders, *A*, *B*, and* C*, are generalizations
of the A, B and C that appear in the definition of the sign given in
(120815-2) below; hence the suggested name *Peircean information *(PI).
The placeholders, *A*, *B* and *C* are analogous to the *free parameters*
appearing in mathematical equations. Thus, (120815-1) can be viewed as a
'qualitative parametric' definition of information in contrast to the
*parametric
definition of information* given by Burgin in [2] which may be considered
as a 'quantitative parametric' definition of information. If this view is
correct, it would mean that 'information' is a complementary union of
*quantity* and *quality*, in general agreement with the yin-yang doctrine
of the Daoist philosophy.
(Reproduced from yesterday's post)
*"30 - 1905 - SS. pp. 192-193 - Letter to Lady Welby (Draft) presumably
July 1905 . *(120815-2)
So then anything (generally in a mathematical sense) is a priman (not a
priman
element generally) and we might define a sign as follows:
A "sign" is anything, A, which,
(1) in addition to other characters of its own,
(2) stands in a dyadic relation Þ, to a purely active correlate, B,
(3) and is also in a triadic relation to B for a purely passive correlate,
C,
this triadic relation being such as to determine C to be in a dyadic
relation,
µ, to B, the relation µ corresponding in a recognized way to the relation
Þ."
This definition of the sign can be diagrammatically represented as
shown in *Figure
1, *which clearly shows that there are three *dyadic relations (or
arrows) *(two
of which are designated as Þ and µ and the third is not explicitly
mentioned by Peirce but represented by me as g in *Figure A*). MOST
IMPORTANTLY, the sign, A is related to object B in two ways -- (i)
*dyadically through
the relation **Þ*, and (ii) *triadically *through the relation µ *(*and the
relation g, in my opinion*)*.
* Þ g*
Object ----------> sign ---------> Interpretant
(*B*) (*A*) (*C*
)
| ^
| |
|____________________________|
*µ*
*Figure 1.* A diagrammatic representation of the Irreducible Triadic
Relation (ITR) embodied in the Peircean sign.
Þ = sign production; g = sign interpretation; µ= *information
transfer.*
(*4*) It is interesting to note that *Figure 1* that defines the Peircean
SIGN simultaneously defines INFORMATION as well, the former emphasizing
the *node*, *A* , and the latter emphasizing the *edge*, *µ*.
(*5*) This leads me to suggest the following generalization:
"Just as a *network* cannot exist without *nodes* and *edges*, so it is
impossible to *communicate* without *signs* and *information *they carry."
(120815-3)
With all the best.
Sung
--
Sungchul Ji, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy
Rutgers University
Piscataway, N.J. 08855
732-445-4701
www.conformon.net
References:
[1] Ji, S. (2015) Planckian information (IP): A new measure of order in
atoms, enzymes, cells, brains, human societies, and the cosmos. In: *Unified
Field Mechanics: Natural Science *
*beyond the Veil of Spacetime* (R. Amoroso, P. Rowlands, and L. Kauffman,
eds.), World Scientific, New Jersey, pp. 579-589.
[2] Burgin, M. (2010). Theory of Information: Fundamentality, Diversity
and Unification. World Scientific, New Jersey.
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