On 10/24/2012 6:39 PM, Jason Resch wrote:
Note that I too agree with that bit about the interpreter of information being needed for information to have any objective meaning.But that's just a semantic "explanation" since "interpreter" and how we would know whether or not something is an "interpreter" is left unexplained.It is a process acting on the information. With enough analysis, we could determine what that process is or isn't aware of, and what the information "means" or (does) to the process. We could perhaps predict how that interpreter would have acted differently had it processed different information, etc. Thus there can be an objective understanding of the meaning of that information. To use Craig's favorite example, we can see how an ipod interprets an mp3 file, and then the information content of that mp3 file has a clear meaning in terms of how it leads to certain vibrational patterns in the air.An interpreter is something that acts intelligently on the information. And that's what gives it objective (3p observable) meaning. So are you agreeing with what I said? It seemed previously that you were disagreeing.
I don't know. I don't think Craig would accept the air vibrations as meaningful even though they are objective. I think we'd have to watch the iPod some more to see if it acted intelligently (it's pretty limited) and I think I would conclude it's not smart enough to count as intelligent.
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