Shannon's theory explicitly ignores the semantics -- the meaning -- of
the information being transmitted. This is perhaps appropriate
considering he worked for a phone company, organizations which don't
generate the data they transmit and are often legally obliged to ignore
its content.
However, for most other applications, including the design of economic
marketplaces or the analysis of patterns in data, I would think the
semantics of the information under consideration is essential to its
adequate study. Whether or not one views an additional piece of
information as decreasing or increasing one's uncertainty, for example,
depends on what meaning one attaches to that information and in what
context it is considered.
-- Peter McBurney
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Dr Peter McBurney
Department of Computer Science
University of Liverpool
Liverpool L69 7ZF
U. K.
Tel: + 44 151 794 6760
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web page: www.csc.liv.ac.uk/~peter/
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