Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id TAA22732 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Thu, 3 May 2001 19:37:36 +0100 Date: Thu, 3 May 2001 18:33:40 +0100 To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: Information Message-ID: <20010503183340.A1419@ii01.org> References: <3AEEB6DE.18806.39FF8D@localhost>; <20010502094920.A752@ii01.org> <3AF06BF1.14540.6C1D26@localhost> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline User-Agent: Mutt/1.3.15i In-Reply-To: <3AF06BF1.14540.6C1D26@localhost>; from joedees@bellsouth.net on Wed, May 02, 2001 at 08:20:01PM -0500 From: Robin Faichney <robin@ii01.org> Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
On Wed, May 02, 2001 at 08:20:01PM -0500, joedees@bellsouth.net wrote:
> On 2 May 2001, at 9:49, Robin Faichney wrote:
>
> > According to Roy Frieden, the laws of physics are generated by the
> > attempt to minimize the difference between an entity or system's own,
> > physical information, and the information that physicists can obtain
> > about it. This account does not get awfully technical, at least as
> > regards physics---we've just gone as deep into Frieden's work as we're
> > going to go---but this distinction he draws is vital: between physical
> > information, which exists for its own sake, and the more usual sort,
> > information that's about something. (From
> > http://www.ii01.org/physics.html)
> >
> The Fisher Information distinction is between what information can
> be drawn from an object considering Heisenbergian constraints and
> the information that would be available in an observationally perfect
> world, where observation interactions did not affect the state of the
> observed object.
Actually, it's broader than that, encompassing any and all contraints,
not just Heisenbergian ones.
> In either case, we are talking about observation,
> either actual or hypothetical.
As far as I can see, your distinction between "the information that
would be available in an observationally perfect world" and an entity's
intrinsic information is of no significance. And if it does have
any significance, then it means that Frieden and the New Scientist
journalist who wrote about his work are wrong, because they both talk
about intrinsic information.
More generally, in thermodynamics, material structure is considered as
information, and is inversely proportional to entropy. If you want to
argue with that, I suggest you seek out an appropriate forum -- but I
doubt you'll convince many physicists to adopt your view.
-- Robin Faichney Get your Meta-Information from http://www.ii01.org (CAUTION: contains philosophy, may cause heads to spin)=============================================================== This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing) see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
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