De: mailman-boun...@listas.unizar.es [mailman-boun...@listas.unizar.es] en
nombre de Jerry LR Chandler [jerry_lr_chand...@me.com]
Enviado el: domingo, 02 de febrero de 2014 6:33
Para: fis-ow...@listas.unizar.es
Asunto: Re: Encoding and Decoding information
From: Jerry LR Chandler
jerry_lr_chand...@mac.commailto:jerry_lr_chand...@mac.com
Subject: Encoding and Decoding information
Date: February 1, 2014 11:30:44 PM CST
To: fis@listas.unizar.esmailto:fis@listas.unizar.es
List
John writes:
Sometimes ignored in the mathematics of Shannon's approach are the coding and
decoding steps, which he does not put in mathematical form, but appear in his
diagrams.
John, I think your remark goes to the very heart of the problems of foundations
of information sciences.
I heartily concur.
I would add a couple of brief comments on why this is such a profoundly
difficult problem. Over the years, I have attempted to induce a conversation
here on FIS on the coding problems, to no avail. I am delighted to learn of
your interest in it. Problems of this depth strain our individual and
collective resources.
At the root of the problem, from my perspective, is the very notion of codes.
In the absence of direct sensory communication, all human communication is by
artifacts, symbol systems invented and used by individuals. A priori, all
symbol systems, as human artifacts, must be learned anew by each passing
generation. As human inventions, no necessity for consistency exists. They are
intrinsically unstable. Ever human being tends to adapt their own perspectives
on the meaning, if any, of a particular code.
The two exceptions are the codes for mathematics and chemistry. The rigid
structure of number systems and arithmetic operations is sufficient to preserve
the foundation codes of arithmetic for millennia, since the Sumerians, yet
flexible enough to allow steady expansions of meanings of new symbols. The
code of chemistry is grounded in physical atomism. Natural elements are rigidly
defined in terms of properties that appear to be stable for millions/billions
of years
Thus, as social communities, the mathematicians and the chemists communicate
very effectively within their own symbol systems. But no formal logic exists
which match the meanings of these two coding systems.
Other communities, for example, philosophy and political and economic and music
and religion and ... have deep problems in establishing consistent encoding and
decoding pathways. The nature of encoding and decoding severely limit the
discourse in bio-semiotics and make communication extremely difficult. The many
conundrums in bio-semiotics are often merely mis-codings of natural processes.
In my own lifelong work on biological mutations as changes of the biological
encoding of information, I have encountered conundrums of encoding and decoding
in its many molecular biological forms. It appears to involve many forms of
differential equations.
IMO, An understanding of the processes of encoding and decoding is essential to
the understanding of the foundations of information sciences.
A trivial example of the perplexities of encoding and decoding are the
relationships among computer languages, an area that Ted Gorenson has focused a
lot of attention and who I have learned much from.
Cheers
Jerry
On Feb 1, 2014, at 5:09 AM,
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: The Interaction Man (John Collier)
2. Re: The Interaction Man Cognitive Informatics
(Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic)
From: John Collier colli...@ukzn.ac.zamailto:colli...@ukzn.ac.za
Subject: Re: [Fis] The Interaction Man
Date: February 1, 2014 12:26:09 AM CST
To: Bob Logan lo...@physics.utoronto.camailto:lo...@physics.utoronto.ca
Cc: fis@listas.unizar.esmailto:fis@listas.unizar.es
fis@listas.unizar.esmailto:fis@listas.unizar.es
Bob,
Sometimes ignored in the mathematics of Shannon's approach are the coding and
decoding steps, which he does not put in mathematical form, but appear in his
diagrams.
There has been some work in this area, the best of which I think to be
Information Flow by Barwise and Seligman. It is a difficult book, and could
have been a lot more clear. In any case there is a potential solution to the
coding issue in the idea of infomorphisms being relations between two sets of
classifications. The
