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Entropy, Volume 5, Issue 1 (March 2003) – 3 articles , Pages 1-60

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83 KiB  
Editorial
Papers from the Foundations of Information Science 2002 (FIS 2002)
by Pedro C. Marijuán and Shu-Kun Lin
Entropy 2003, 5(1), 1-2; https://doi.org/10.3390/e5010001 - 15 Feb 2003
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4726
Abstract
The following papers in the first issue of Entropy, volume 5, 2003, were presented at the electronic conference on Foundations of Information Science FIS 2002 (http://www.mdpi.net/fis2002/).[...] Full article
321 KiB  
Article
The Role of the Individual in the Social Information Process
by Christian Fuchs
Entropy 2003, 5(1), 34-60; https://doi.org/10.3390/e5010034 - 05 Feb 2003
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 16338
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to point out which role the individual plays in the generation of information in social systems. First, it is argued that the individual is a social, self-conscious, creative, reflective, cultural, symbol- and language-using, active natural, producing, labouring, [...] Read more.
The aim of this paper is to point out which role the individual plays in the generation of information in social systems. First, it is argued that the individual is a social, self-conscious, creative, reflective, cultural, symbol- and language-using, active natural, producing, labouring, objective, corporeal, living, real, sensuous, visionary, imaginative, designing, co-operative being that makes its own history and can strive towards freedom and autonomy. Based on these assumptions the re-creation/self-organisation of social systems is described as a dialectic of actions and social structures and as a dialectic of individual information and social information. The individual enters economic, political and cultural relationships that result in the emergence and differentiation of social (i.e. economic, political and cultural) information which enables and constrains individual actions and thinking. Individuals as actors in social systems are indispensable for social self-organisation. Full article
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1263 KiB  
Article
On the Concept of Information and Its Role in Nature
by Juan G. Roederer
Entropy 2003, 5(1), 3-33; https://doi.org/10.3390/e5010003 - 05 Feb 2003
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 10393
Abstract
In this article we address some fundamental questions concerning information: Can the existing laws of physics adequately deal with the most striking property of information, namely to cause specific changes in the structure and energy flows of a complex system, without the information [...] Read more.
In this article we address some fundamental questions concerning information: Can the existing laws of physics adequately deal with the most striking property of information, namely to cause specific changes in the structure and energy flows of a complex system, without the information in itself representing fields, forces or energy in any of their characteristic forms? Or is information irreducible to the laws of physics and chemistry? Are information and complexity related concepts? Does the Universe, in its evolution, constantly generate new information? Or are information and information-processing exclusive attributes of living systems, related to the very definition of life? If that were the case, what happens with the physical meanings of entropy in statistical mechanics or wave function in quantum mechanics? How many distinct classes of information and information processing do exist in the biological world? How does information appear in Darwinian evolution? Does the human brain have unique properties or capabilities in terms of information processing? In what ways does information processing bring about human self-consciousness? We shall introduce the meaning of "information" in a way that is detached from human technological systems and related algorithms and semantics, and that is not based on any mathematical formula. To accomplish this we turn to the concept of interaction as the basic departing point, and identify two fundamentally different classes, with information and information-processing appearing as the key discriminator: force-field driven interactions between elementary particles and ensembles of particles in the macroscopic physical domain, and information-based interactions between certain kinds of complex systems that form the biological domain. We shall show that in an abiotic world, information plays no role; physical interactions just happen, they are driven by energy exchange between the interacting parts and do not require any operations of information processing. Information only enters the non-living physical world when a living thing interacts with it-and when a scientist extracts information through observation and measurement. But for living organisms, information is the very essence of their existence: to maintain a long-term state of unstable thermodynamic equilibrium with its surroundings, consistently increase its organization and reproduce, an organism has to rely on information-based interactions in which form or pattern, not energy, is the controlling factor. This latter class comprises biomolecular information processes controlling the metabolism, growth, multiplication and differentiation of cells, and neural information processes controlling animal behavior and intelligence. The only way new information can appear is through the process of biological evolution and, in the short term, through sensory acquisition and the manipulation of images in the nervous system. Non-living informational systems such as books, computers, AI systems and other artifacts, as well as living organisms that are the result of breeding or cloning, are planned by human beings and will not be considered here. Full article
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