"The word information derives from the Latin preposition in, meaning in or into, and the verb formare, meaning to give shape to. ---Information puts definite shape into something.
--But that means ruling out other shapes.
The key intuition behind the concept of information is the narrowing of possibilities. The more that possibilities are narrowed down, the
greater the information.
The key intuition behind the concept of information is the narrowing of possibilities. The more that possibilities are narrowed down, the
If I tell you I’m on planet Earth, I haven’t conveyed any information because you already knew that (let’s leave aside space travel). If I tell you I’m in the United States, I’ve begun to narrow down where I am in the world. If I tell you I’m in Texas, I’ve narrowed down my location further. If I tell you I’m forty miles north of Dallas, I’ve narrowed my location down even further. As I keep narrowing down my location, I’m providing you with more and more information.
Information is therefore, in its essence, exclusionary: the more possibilities are excluded, the greater the information provided. As philosopher Robert Stalnaker put it in his book Inquiry: “To learn something, to acquire information, is to rule out possibilities.
Given the etymology of information and intelligence, it’s obvious that the two are related notions. The million-dollar question in connecting the two is how we can know when an intelligence is actually responsible for an item of information.
Answering that question is the whole point of specified complexity and the design inference."
WILLIAM A. DEMBSKI
Information is therefore, in its essence, exclusionary: the more possibilities are excluded, the greater the information provided. As philosopher Robert Stalnaker put it in his book Inquiry: “To learn something, to acquire information, is to rule out possibilities.
Given the etymology of information and intelligence, it’s obvious that the two are related notions. The million-dollar question in connecting the two is how we can know when an intelligence is actually responsible for an item of information.
Answering that question is the whole point of specified complexity and the design inference."
WILLIAM A. DEMBSKI