Dear FIS colleagues,
During last five years we have had quite many discussion sessions in a row
(for the new parties arrived recently, there are a couple of web sites
where messages are systematically archived--see below). As suggested by
some discussants, having some long pause was needed --p
Dear FIS,
Pedro is - as is his habitude - too modest again. He has through 15 years of
patient work nurtured into being a discussion forum about the fundametals of
information, as a general, basic, philosophical topic.
To my knowledge, this endeavour is unique. Even more startling appears to
some
Hi Loet,
we agree. The proposition is to use the "natural constants" as a
distribution. The distribution - the etalon, encased in Paris - to serve as
the basis of counting how many bits appear, is in the simplest case the
natural numbersy themselves.
Yes, I agree to your assertion that informatio
Dear Karl,
The expected information content of a distribution can be measured, for
example, in bits of information.
Does one need more than this for defining information?
With best wishes,
Loet
_
Loet Leydesdorff
Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR),
Klovenie
Dear Karl,
Unlike physical measures like the meter, information (probabilistic entropy)
can be defined mathematically. Thus, one would not need an etalon in Paris.
Similarly, I would consider the natural numbers as a special case. The
definition can be kept more abstract.
With best wishes,
