Abstract
Theinformationisclearlydividedintoontology-levelattributeinformationandcognitive-levelknowledgeinformation.Basedontheunderstandingofthisessentialconceptofinformation,therelationshipbetweeninformationandimportantconceptssuchasmatter,energy,intelligence,language,knowledge,technology,andproductivityhasalsobeenextensivelydiscussed,andsomemeaningfulphilosophicalquestionshavebeenraised.Attheendofthearticle,anewframeworkmodelofscientificarchitectureisproposedtoexpressthemeaningandtrendofthecombinationofinformationscienceandsystemscienceandtheemergenceofvariouscross-sciencesinthedevelopmentofmodernscience.
Keywords
Information;Informationdefinition;Informationessenceconcept;Attributeinformation;Knowledgeinformation
Introduction
InformationconceptisrelatedtoinformationThetheoryhasbeendecadessinceShennongfoundedthe"InformationTheory"inthefieldofcommunications.Duringthisperiod,theconceptofinformationhasmovedfromthenarrowfieldofcommunicationsintothebroaderfieldofhumanproduction,life,scientificresearchandotherhumanactivities.Informationresources,informationtechnologyrevolution,enterpriseinformatization,socialinformatization,andinformationsocietyhavealsobecomethehottesttopicsincontemporarysociallife.Informationscienceisgraduallydevelopingintoanimportantemergingscience.Itiscloselyrelatedtotraditionalnaturalsciences,socialsciences,systemsciences,andphilosophy.Manycutting-edgescientificresearches,suchastheoriginoflife,geneticmechanisms,andbrainthinkingmechanisms,Quantumcomputers,etc.,areincreasinglyrelyingonthesupportofinformationscienceconcepts.Informationandinformationsciencearehavinganincreasinglyimportantimpactonthedevelopmentofhumansociety.
However,whatseemstobeincompatiblewiththeflourishingdevelopmentofinformationscienceandinformationtechnologyapplicationsisthatthebasicdefinitionandessentialconceptsofinformationhavenotbeenrecognized,clear,andscientificallyconclusive.Atpresent,therearemorethanahundredkindsofinformationdefinitionsandconceptsthatcanbesearched.Althoughthedefinitionsandconceptsofinformationproposedbypeoplefromdifferentfieldsanddifferentanglesarestillverydifferentorevencontradictory,andpeoplecontinuetoputforwardnewviewsandopinions.,Butafterall,theunderstandingofinformationhasbeengraduallydeepened,andthelong-termdebateitselfalsoillustratestheprofoundnessandcomplexityoftheconceptofinformation.Inrecentyears,somescholarshaveproposedfullinformationtheory,unifiedinformationtheory,generalinformaticsandgeneralinformationtheory,etc.,alltryingtorevealtheessenceofinformationconceptsinabroaderfieldandatadeeperlevel.AbookcompiledbytheChineseAcademyofScienceshaslisted"whatisinformation"asoneofthese100difficultquestions.Withtheeffortsofthemajorityofscientificworkers,Ibelievethatthisscientificproblemwilleventuallybebettersolved.Andaclearunderstandingoftheconceptoftheessenceofinformationisboundtofurtherpromotethedevelopmentofinformationscience.
Intheattitudeoflearninganddiscussion,thisarticlewillalsocarryoutsomeanalysisanddiscussionontheessentialconceptsofinformation.Definitionisanimportantlogicalmeanstorevealtheconnotationofaconcept.Whentheconceptisclear,acorrectandaccuratedefinitioncannaturallybeformed.Howtoanalyzetheessenceoftheconceptofinformationandobtainthedefinitionofinformationthatembodiestheconceptoftheessenceofinformation,wehavetwobasicstartingpoints:
First,trytoexploretheessenceofinformationfromtheperspectiveofdialecticalmaterialismphilosophy.Wiener'sinformationconceptof"informationisnotmatter,informationisnotenergy,informationisinformation"shouldbebroken.Weshouldanswerclearlyinanalyzingthebasicrelationshipbetweenmatter,energyandinformation:Whatisinformation?
Secondly,theinformationdefinitionsandessentialconceptsanalyzedshouldbeuniversallyapplicableinallspecificfields,thatis,theconnotationsofrelevantinformationdefinitionsandconceptsinvariousspecificfieldsshouldbecovered,especiallyinInthetwodifferentlevelsoftheobjectivematerialworldandthesubjectiveworld,theconceptofinformationshouldhaveessentiallythesameconnection.
Thisisalsothegoalwehopetoachievebyanalyzingthenatureofinformation.
Essentialdiscussion
Informationdefinition
Weunderstandthatasaninformationdefinitionthatcanembodytheessentialconceptofinformation,itshouldhavethefollowingtwobasicconditions:
(1)Itshouldbeansweredclearlyinthephilosophicalsense:Informationisneithermatternorenergy.Whatisinformation?
(2)Itshouldcovertheconnotationofvariousrelevantinformationdefinitionsandconceptsinallspecificfields,thatis,ithasuniversalapplicability.
Accordingly,wetriedthefollowingdefinitionstoexpresstheessentialconceptofinformation:
(1)"Informationisarepresentationoftheuniversalattributesofobjectivethings".
(2)"Informationisareflectedmaterialattribute".
(3)"Informationistheattributeofonethingreflectedintheattributeofanotherthing".
(4)"Informationistheattributecontentofanotherthingreflectedintheformoftheattributeofonething".
Theaboveseveraltypesofinformationdefinitionsshouldexpressbasicallythesameessentialconceptsofinformation,butthespecificmethodsanddegreesaredifferent.Howtomoreaccuratelyexpressthedefinitionofinformationthatcanembodytheessentialconceptofinformationremainstobefurtherstudied.
Inordertorevealtheprofoundconnotationoftheinformationconcept,wefocusedontheanalysisofthefollowingthreeimportantissues:
(1)Theissueoftherelationshipbetweeninformationandattributes.
(2)Thetransmissionandtransmissibilityofinformation.
(3)Therelationshipbetweeninformationcontentandform.
Throughtheanalysisoftheabovethreequestions,Ialsotrytoexplainthattheproposedinformationdefinitionthatcanreflecttheessentialconceptofinformationhasconsiderableuniversalitynomatterinthedifferentfieldsoftheontologylevelorthecognitivelevel..
WorldModel
Theworldmodeloftheinformationconceptdividestheworldintothreeinterconnectedcomponents:theobjectivenaturalworld,thesubjectiveworldandtheman-madetechnologyworld,whichareusedtooutlinetheontology.Theformationandinterrelationofhierarchicalattributeinformationandknowledgeinformationatcognitivelevelalsoreflectthebasicprocessofhumanunderstandingandtransformationoftheobjectiveworld.Itisactuallyacomplexinformationsystemmodelforthedevelopmentofhumansociety,whichinitiallyrevealsthatinformationisenhancinghumanintelligence.,Itplaysanimportantroleinpromotingthedevelopmentofscienceandtechnologyandimprovingsocialproductivity(forinformationanalysisofthehumansocialdevelopmentsystem,pleaserefertoReference10).
Informationclassification
Accordingtotheabove-mentionedunderstandingoftheessentialconceptofinformation,herewealsoclassifyandcommentonthemanyknowninformationdefinitionideasandproblems:
(1)Directlydefineinformationsimplyasanattributeofthingsoracertainattribute.Suchas:
"Informationisthestateandwayofthemovementofthings";
"Informationisauniversalattributeofmatter";
"Informationistheessentialattributeofthings,Isaboutthestructure,state,relationshipandchangingattributesofthings";
"Informationistheunevendistributionofmatterandenergyinspaceandtime";
"InformationisSystemcomplexity";
"Informationisameasureoforder";
"Informationisnegativeentropy";
ThiskindofdefinitionconfusesThedifferencebetweeninformationandattributesdoesnotreflecttheessenceoftheinformationconcept,norcanitunifytheinformationconceptattheontologicallevelandthecognitivelevel.
(2)Defineinformationasthereflectionorrepresentationofacertainspecificattributeofathing,suchas:
"Informationisthereflectedparticularity";
"Informationisthedifferencereflected";
"Informationistherepresentationoftheorganizationandorderofthings";
"Informationistherepresentationoftheinteractionprocessofthings";
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"Informationistheexpressionofstructure";
Thistypeofdefinition,althoughitisclearthatinformationisareflectionofthenatureoftheinformationconcept,islimitedtoaspecificattributeandlacksdefinition.Universality,theuniversalattributesofthingsincludetheirdiversity,orderliness,andinterconnectedness,andsoon.Theconceptofinformationshouldbeareflectionorrepresentationofalltheseuniversalattributes.
(3)Onlydefineinformationatthecognitivelevelrelatedtopeople,suchas:
"Informationistheactivereflectionofthehumanbraintotheattributesofobjectivethings";
"Informationisthemediumofmatterandconsciousness,andthemediumofcognition";
"Informationisthenameofthecontentexchangedintheprocessofinteractionbetweenpeopleandtheoutsideworld";
"Informationissomethingthatactsonhumansenseorgans";
"Informationreferstoallknowledgesharedbyhumans";
Thistypeofdefinition,althoughitreflectstheconceptofinformationatthecognitivelevelManyimportantcharacteristics,butactuallydenytheobjectiveexistenceofinformationbeforeandoutsidethehumansociety,andthuscutofftheoriginoftheconceptofcognitionlevelinformation.Itiseasytomisunderstand:informationisonlyaconceptinthespiritualrealm.
(4)Onlydefineinformationfromthecommunicationfieldorotherspecificfields,suchas
"Informationisausefulmessage";
"Informationisanacceptanceofthemessage"Informationisusedtocommunicatethefacts,data,newsandknowledgeobtainedfromobservation";
"InformationiscommunicationtransmissionThecontentof"
Mostofthesedefinitionscomefromearlyauthoritativescientistsorclassicdictionaryentries,becausetheresearchoninformationtheoryandinformationconceptsstartedfromthefieldofcommunication,andtheydidrevealinformationTransitivityandimportantconceptsrelatedtotherelationshipbetweeninformationformandcontent,buttheyarestilllimitedtothefieldofcommunicationbetweenpeopleinhumansociety,anddonotinvolvethetransmissionofinformationinthenaturalworldattheontologicallevelandthelevelofunderstandingfromtheobjectiveworldtothesubjectiveworld.Theproblemofinformationtransmission,soitisdifficulttorevealtheessenceofinformationfromaphilosophicalheight.Norisituniversal.
(5)Defineinformationfromtheaspectsoftherole,function,characteristicsormeasurementmethodsofinformation,suchas:
"Informationissomethingthateliminatesrandomuncertainty";
"Informationissomethingthatcanbeusedtoeliminateorreducetheinformationsink'suncertaintyaboutthesourceofinformation";
"Informationissomethingthatchangestheprobabilitydistribution";
"InformationItisameasureoforder";
"Informationissomethingthatactsonhumansensoryorgans";
ThevariousfunctionsandfunctionsofinformationcanreflectmanyimportantaspectsofinformationindifferentaspectsConceptsandcharacteristics,butafterallcannotbeusedasthedefinitionofinformation,thereisnoclearanswerto"Whatisinformation?"."Thing"itselfisarelativelyvagueword,whichcaneasilybemisunderstoodasacertainobjectorthenatureofathing.
Anewexplorationofstructure
Scienceisasystemofhumansharingknowledgeandtheessenceofknowledgeandinformationcontentatalevelofknowledge.Thescientificsystemshouldbecomposedoftheclassificationscienceofspecificfieldsaccordingtoacertainstructuralrelationship.Wetrytousethestructurediagramofthescientificsystemtoreflectthedevelopmentofthemodernscientificsystemasawhole.Trytorevealthefollowingimportantcharacteristicsinthedevelopmentofthemodernscientificsystem:
(1)Topromoteinformationscienceandsystemscienceasthetwopillarsciencesofdialecticalmaterialistphilosophy.DialecticalmaterialistphilosophyusesinformationscienceandTheprinciplesandmethodsofsystemscienceguidetheresearchofnaturalscienceandsocialscience.
(2)Informationscienceandsystemsciencearebothdevelopedonthebasisofthedialecticalmaterialistphilosophyabouttheuniversalconnectionandcontinuousmovementofobjectivethings,andthedevelopmentofinformationscienceandsystemsciencehasenrichedTheconnotationofdialecticalmaterialistphilosophy.Thefurtherdevelopmentofinformationscienceandsystemsciencestillrequiresustothinkandanalyzeproblemsmorefromaphilosophicalperspective.Someinterdisciplinarysubjectshavealsobeguntoappearbetweeninformationscience,systemsscienceandphilosophy,suchassystemsdialectics,informationphilosophy,systemsphilosophy,andsoon.
(3)Althoughtheresearchobjects,contentsandmethodsofinformationscienceandsystemsciencearedifferent,theydohavecloseconnectionsonthebasisofnaturalphilosophy,andinspecificapplications,itisalmostdifficulttoseparatethem.of.Toalargeextent,thestructureandfunctionofthesystemareconnectedorembodiedthroughinformation,andthetransmissionofinformationisrealizedbytheactivitiesofvarioussystems.Thedevelopmentoftheentirehumansocietyisahugecomplexinformationsystem.Howtofurtherintegrate,mergeandintersectinformationscienceandsystemscience,therearestillmanyissuesthatneedtobefurtherstudied.
(4)Thedevelopmentofinformationscienceandsystemsciencehaspenetratedmoreandmoredeeplyintovariousspecificscientificfieldsofnaturalscienceandsocialscience,thusitisboundtopromotemanyemergingThedevelopmentofinterdisciplinarysciences,suchasbioinformatics,chemicalinformatics,quantuminformationscience,geoinformationscienceandinformationeconomics,systemsmanagement,etc.,willalsopromotetheintersectionofsocialsciencesandnaturalsciences.Theintersectionofsciencesordisciplinesisnotonlytheinnovationpointofscientificdevelopmentbutalsothedifficultyofscientificdevelopment,itisworthyofourattention.