Interdisciplinary Elucidation of Concepts, Metaphors, Theories and Problems Concerning INFORMATION
Coordinators: José María DÍAZ NAFRÍA, Mario PÉREZ-MONTORO GUTIÉRREZ, Francisco SALTO ALEMANY
glossariumBITri Interdisciplinary elucidation of concepts, metaphors, theories and problems concerning INFORMATION
Elucidación interdisciplinar de conceptos, metáforas, teorías y problemas en torno a la INFORMACIÓN
The glossariumBITri, planned as a central activity El glossariumBITri, concebido como uno de los ejes para for the interdisciplinary study of information, el estudio interdisciplinar de la información desarrollado developed by BITrum group in cooperation with por el grupo BITrum en cooperación con la Universidad the University of Santa Elena (Ecuador), Estatal Península de Santa Elena, pretende servir de essentially aims at serving as a tool for the instrumento para el esclarecimiento conceptual, teórico clarification of concepts, theories and problems y de problemas en torno a la información. Tratando de concerning information. Intending to embrace the abarcar el máximo de puntos de vista relevantes most relevant points of view with respect to respecto a la información, su desarrollo es information, it is interdisciplinarily developed by a interdisciplinar contando con la participación de board of experts coming from a wide variety of expertos de reconocido prestigio en muy diversas áreas scientific fields. The glossariumBITri kindly invites científicas. El glossariumBITri invita cordialmente al the scientific community to make contributions of conjunto de la comunidad científica a realizar any kind aimed at clarifying in the field of contribuciones que busquen el esclarecimiento en el information studies. ámbito de los estudios informacionales. Editorial Coordination | Coordinación Marcelo León (University of Santa Elena, Ecuador) José María Díaz Nafría, University of Santa Elena, Ecuador; Rosa Macarro (University of Extremadura, Spain) Munich University of Applied Sciences, Germany Alfredo Marcos (University of Valladolid, Spain) Mario Pérez-Montoro Gutiérrez, University of Barcelona, Spain Estela Mastromatteo (Universidad Central de Venezuela) Francisco Salto Alemany, University of León, Spain José Méndez (University of Salamanca, Spain) Jorge Morato (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain) José Antonio Moreiro (Universidad Carlos III, Spain) Correction team | Equipo de corrección Walter Orozco (University of Santa Elena, Ecuador) Tomás Ortiz (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain) Basil Al Hadithi, Technical University of Madrid, Spain Julio Ostalé (UNED, Spain) Rosa Macarro, University of Extremadura, Spain Mario Pérez-Montoro (University of Barcelona, Spain) Mercedes Osorio, I.E.S. Ramiro de Maeztu, Madrid, Spain Carmen Requena (University of León, Spain) Anthony Hoffmann, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, USA Gemma Robles (University of León, Spain) Blanca Rodríguez (University of León, Spain) Editorial board | Equipo de redacción Shendry Rosero (University of Santa Elena, Ecuador) Francisco Salto (University of León, Spain) Juan Miguel Aguado (University of Murcia, Spain) Lydia Sánchez (University of Barcelona, Spain) Carlos Aguilar (University of Barcelona, Spain) Sonia Sánchez-Cuadrado (Universidad Carlos III, Spain) Basil Al Hadithi (Technical University of Madrid, Spain) Jérôme Segal (Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Juan Ramón Álvarez (University of León, Spain) Research in the Social Sciences, Austria) Balu Athreya (University of Pennsylvania, USA) Washington Torres (University of Santa Elena, Ecuador) Leticia Barrionuevo (University of León, Spain) Margarita Vázquez (Universidad de La Laguna, Spain) Søren Brier (Copenhagen Business School, Denmank) Rainer Zimmermann (Munich University of Applied Sciences, Luis Emilio Bruni (Aalborg University, Denmark) Germany; Clare Hall-Cambridge, United Kingdom) Mark Burgin (University of California, Los Angeles, USA) Manuel Campos (University of Barcelona, Spain) Rafael Capurro (Institut für Digitale Ethik, Germany) Coolaborators | Colaboradores María Herminia Cornejo (University of Santa Elena, Ecuador) Yorgos Andreadakis (Universidad Carlos III, Spain) Emilia Curras (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain) Sylvia Burset (University of Barcelona, Spain) José Maria Díaz (University of Santa Elena, Ecuador; Munich Anabel Fraga (Universidad Carlos III, Spain) University of Applied Sciences, Germany) Mehrad Golkhosravi (University of Barcelona, Spain) Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic (Mälardalen University, Sweden) Jesús Ezquerro (Basque Country University, Spain) Juan Carlos Fernández Molina (University of Granada, Spain) Peter Fleissner (Technische Universität Wien, Austria) Interactive-gB | gB-interactivo Christian Fuchs (University of Westminster, United Kingdom) Xosé Antón García-Sampedro (I.E.S. Bernaldo Quirós, Spain) http://glossarium.bitrum.unileon.es Roberto Gejman (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) Igor Gurevich (Institute of Informatics Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Rusia) Contacto | Contact Wolfgang Hofkirchner (Technische Universität Wien, Austria) Manuel Liz (Universidad de La Laguna, Spain) [email protected]
Edita | Edited by: Universidad Estatal Península de Santa Elena, Ecuador, 2016 ISBN: 978-9942-8548-3-4 Diseño | Design: J.M. Díaz Nafría, M. Ortiz Osorio
El glossariumBITri está protegido por una licencia de Reconocimiento - No Comercial - Sin Obra Derivada 3.0 Ecuador de Creative Commons. Se permite la reproducción, distribución y comunicación pública, siempre y cuando se cite adecuadamente la obra y sus responsables.
The glossariumBITri is licensed under a Creative Commons Atribución-Sin Derivadas 3.0 Ecuador License (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 EC). Public reproduction, distribution and communications is allowed whenever the work and its authors are properly quoted. INDEX
Index
Introduction to the first edition ...... v Introduction to the present edition ...... vii Methodological notes ...... ix Methodology: pluralism and rightness ...... ix Abbreviations and article organisation ...... ix Editorial Team ...... xi Coordinators ...... xi Editors ...... xi Other authors ...... xiii Language and style correction ...... xiii Abbreviations and Acronyms ...... xiv Abbreviations of authors and editors’ names ...... xiv Other abbreviations and acronyms used in the glossariumBITri ...... xiv INTERDISCIPLINARY GLOSSARY ...... 15 Table of contents of English articles ...... 221
iii
INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EDITION
Introduction to the first edi- tion
“Concepts lead us to make investigations; are the expression of our interest, and direct our interest.” Ludwig WITGENSTEIN, Philosophise Untersuchungen
“Information is a difference which makes a difference.” Gregory BATESON, Steps to an ecology of mind
Terms included in this glossary recap some of the main concepts, theories, problems and metaphors concern- ing INFORMATION in all spheres of knowledge. This is the first edition of an ambitious enterprise cov- ering at its completion all relevant notions relating to INFORMATION in any scientific context. As such, this glossariumBITri is part of the broader project Ramon Llull´s tree of science BITrum, which is committed to the mutual under- standing of all disciplines devoted to information across fields of knowledge and practice. This glossary pretends to make explicit the conflicts and agreements among use and meaning of terms related to information phenomena. Information is approached from opposing para- digms and also from competing and cooperating disciplines. Both in science and in ordinary life, conceptual, ethical, technical and societal problems regard information in an essential way. This glossary does not endorse or presuppose any paradigm or any theory, but rather locates into a public, explicit and commonly understandable space some of the crucial assumptions dividing informational concepts, theories, problems and metaphors. Moreover, we purport to embrace all distinct paradigms with a critical and comprehensive attitude. The glossary is the result of an original methodology, which places any entrance under the re- sponsibility of its editor. Authors possibly distinct from the editor contribute to different articles with texts, comments or discussions. Since authors come from many distinct fields of knowledge, each article should reflect many perspectival but rigorous approaches.
v METHODOLOGICAL NOTES INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EDITION
The glossary is an open work: the number and contents of all its entrances are updated and submitted to revision by editors and authors. For this reason, this first edition is only a first step in the active development of this collaborative methodology. Any interested reader wishing to contribute, may contact the general editors. This glossary is most indebted to the enthusiasm and work of José María Díaz Nafría. The editorial team, authors and correctors thank the Universidad de León and Caja España for their support to this initiative.
Francisco Salto Alemany León (Spain), November 2010
vi glossariumBITri INTRODUCTION TO THE PRESENT EDITION
Introduction to the present edition
“There have always been thinkers to believe that the fields of human knowledge betrays a fundamental unity. In modern times people ready to discuss this unity have come under grave suspicion. Surely, the crit- ics argue, no man is so presumptuous as to imagine that he can comprehend more than a tiny fraction of the scope of contemporary science. [...] And yet there are still men prepared to pursue the path of unity, and to discuss problems in an inter-disciplinary fashion: that is, without regard to the specialised viewpoint of any one branch of science.” Stafford BEER (Cybernetics and Manage- ment, 1959)
Four years after appearing the first book edition of the glossariumBITri (gB), it faces now a new phase of development, in which this new book version represents a milestone. The first devel- opment phase, 2008-2010, was clearly marked by an intensive cooperative work to stand up the clarification enterprise in which the gB is embarked on. Right after such phase, the gB was nurtured through valuable inputs covering essential aspects as semiotics, computation, com- plexity, etc., by distinguished researchers who have certainly enriched not only this book but the working team who is now before a more ambitious horizon. Besides some improvements in previous articles, the most important additions to the previous edition, incorporated herewith, corresponds to the articles developed in the areas of algorithmic theory, complexity theory, General Theory of Information and Cybersemiotics that we heartily thank to the cherished contributions of Mark Burgin and Søren Brier. Nevertheless, the flesh of the glossariumBITri has been enriched as well through entries, which do not show up in this book since they are still under review or discussion, but they surely will in the next edition. They are, of course, available in the interactive-gB. For this dressing up the naked bones of the gB, we warmly thank the contributions provided by Balu Athreya, Igor Gurevich, Basil Al-Hadithi, Agustín Jiménez, Alexis Rocha, Daniel Gómez, Carlos Sarmiento. The incorporation of some of the topics which are now available, either in this book or in the interactive-gB was simply a must (as algorithmic information), others represent an initiation into fields we have to deepen (as information in biological sciences). But nonetheless, if we take into account all the concepts we have not weaved yet into the network of clarified concepts, metaphors, theories and prob- lems, then we can clearly state that we are at the very beginning. By simply looking into the interactive-gB’s list of open voices, which are still empty, or into the number of voice proposals we have not open yet, it is easy to conclude we are before a large and of course open enterprise.
glossariumBITri vii METHODOLOGICAL NOTES INTRODUCTION TO THE PRESENT EDITION
One could argue the situation is not as different as before; then why are we saying we are now facing a different horizon? This is entangled with the current rearrangement of BITrum’s activ- ities. On the one hand, we have more coherently organised the different endeavours we have been pushing along the years in order to bring about a more effective cooperation among BITrum’s members and other stakeholders; on the other hand, gB has been structured in three branches: a) interactive-gB, b) gB-journal, and c) book editions. Through a rationalisation of efforts, this new gB landscape obviously offers a multiplied effect regarding impact, dissemina- tion and educational applications. To cope with the new challenges gB team has been enlarged and put besides other three BITrum’s operating units: (i) domusBITae devoted to the deployment of telematic tools for the facilitation of the distributed and interdisciplinary community of re- searchers and educators cooperating in the development of information studies. (ii) PRIMER, oriented to the promotion, development and underpinning of interdisciplinary studies; and (iii) a Research Unit, integrated by the teams working on specific scientific projects. Through this reorganisation, gB offers a more coherent platform for the clarification and theo- retical enterprise BITrum has been aiming at since its beginnings, linking its development to BITrum’s information environment (dB), educational activities (PRIMER) and research pro- jects. Such interplay – albeit the autonomy of the respective operations – represents a nurturing flow that will provide a new life to the clarification goals of the gB in connection to real prob- lems and the education of scientist to tackle them. The activities deployed since 2014 under support of Ecuadorian institutions, in both research and education, constitute a powerful balloon to lift up our scientific enterprise. This book in itself represents a sign of it. It is a result of the cooperation agreement signed in 2014 between the University of the Peninsula of Santa Elena (UPSE) and BITrum, which targets at several collaborative activities concerning: the development and co-management – together with the University of León – of the glossariumBITri open journal; the development of educational pro- grams; the cooperation in interdisciplinary research projects. Furthermore, the Ecuadorian Na- tional Secretary of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (SENESCYT) is supporting in the field of interdisciplinary information studies – through the Prometeo Pro- gramme –: the development of theoretical work and practical applications, the training of re- searchers, the development of scientific networks, etc. On one side, BITrum warmly thanks this support to the interdisciplinary study of information provided by the UPSE and SENESCYT; on the other side, we offer our deep commitment to contribute to the great scientific and edu- cational effort Ecuador is doing since the constitution of 2008. We are convinced that the trans- disciplinary capabilities of the information studies offers a toehold for the intense integration of knowledge we nowadays need for coping with the complex challenges our societies that are facing regarding the coverage of basic needs, environment, peace, inequality, urban manage- ment, climate change, democratic issues, waste reduction… We can use the language of infor- mation to refer to the physical, biological, societal, technological reality, to address theoretical and practical issues. Then we have a fantastical tool for weaving the scientific enterprise in a more integrated fashion. José María Díaz Nafría Santa Elena (Ecuador), February 2015
viii glossariumBITri METHODOLOGICAL NOTES
Methodological notes
Methodology: pluralism and rightness The glossariumBITri is conceived as a cooperative work in the following sense: each voice has a responsible editor who regulates, animates and organize the discussion of the term and the different contributions provided by the rest of the authors. It is furthermore an open work in a very particular sense: it is electronically accessible and opened to gather new contributions and discussions at any voice. Hence, subsequent editions will constantly increase the extension and deepness of the different entries. Furthemore the glossariumBITri interdisciplinary insofar it gather scientists from different knowledge areas in which the informational notions play a central role. Moreover, basic con- cepts are trans-disciplinary, as far as they cross different disciplines and fields of knowledge and action. The glossariumBITri does not assume an informational paradigm above others, but it endeavors to expose all coherently without hiding the theoretical and practical conflicts. According to the conceived methodology for glossariumBITri’s elaboration, all editorial team members can participate in any article under the assumption of certain commitments: ― All members of the writing team –which is always open to whomever may be interested– are potential authors of ENTRIES for each proposed voice. Thus, each voice may gather several independent entries, or related through debates or criticism to previous contribu- tions. ― The EDITOR (one per voice) is committed to allocate each entry –with sufficient quality– in the final article in a structured way and without redundancy. At the same time, the editor can ask authors for further clarification or deepening here and there, improving the text, providing references, etc. ― For each article, there is a DISCUSSION space where members can make comments, crit- ics, suggestions, questions to the given entries. ― The COORDINATORS overview the elaboration of the glossariumBITri as a whole and coordinate the development of different tasks related to its development: management and development of the edition system, content review, correction request, layout, call organi- zation, dissemination, etc.
Abbreviations and article organisation As one can see in the adjacent example, right after the voice the usual designation in Spanish, French and German is shown between brackets, preceded by the initials S., F. and G. respec- tively.
glossariumBITri ix METHODOLOGICAL NOTES
Immediately after, the scientific or discipli- nary usage contexts, in which the article is developed, is indicated between square brackets. The goal has been to point out the field better suited to the usage of the term. Thereby there are voices of specific usage for certain theories (e.g., self-re-creation de- fined in the context of the Unified Theory of Information). On the other hand, “trans- disciplinary” has been used in the soft sense of crossing different disciplines (e.g., [trans- disciplinary, system theory]). As subindex going along the list of usage contexts, the object type to which the article refers to is highlighted. It can be: concept (e.g., autopoiesis), metaphor (e.g., infor- mation flow), theory (e.g., channel theory), theorem (e.g., fundamental theorems of Shannon), discipline (e.g., hermeneutics), problem (e.g., fo- toblogs and adolescents), or resource (e.g., semantic web). In case the article is large, the titles of the sections, in which the article is divided, are enumerated right after the heading. The article structure has been freely determined by the corresponding editors, striving for a systemization of the entries provided by authors or participants in discussions. For citation and bibliographic reference listing and style adapted to ISO 690 standard has been used. The authorship in indicated at the bottom of each article through abbreviations specified in the section devoted to the editorial team. “ed” denotes editor, “tr” translator. If only an abbre- viation is indicated at the article bottom this means the corresponding author has not received –or incorporated yet– contributions of other authors. Additionally other abbreviations and acronyms referred to right after the authors and editors’ abbreviation list.
x glossariumBITri EDITORIAL TEAM
Editorial Team
Coordinators José María Díaz Nafría (Senescyt–UPSE, Ecuador), [email protected] Francisco Salto Alemany (Universidad de León, Spain), [email protected] Mario Pérez-Montoro (Universitat de Barcelona, Spain), [email protected]
Editors The following list recaps for each editor the set of articles he is in charge of (in the introductory section devoted to glossariumBITri’s methodology the particular role of the editors as to the interdisciplinary elaboration of articles is specified). This list does not reflect the contributions of editors to other voices as authors. Juan Miguel Aguado (Universidad de Murcia): Autopoiesis, Communication; Constructivism; Cybernetic; Endogenous information; Observation Carlos Aguilar (Universidad de Barcelona): Audio-visual content; Situational logic Basil M. Al Hadithi (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid): Automatic regulation; Control Theory; Feedback; Fuzzy logic Juan Ramón Álvarez (Universidad de León): Biosemiotics; Memetics Leticia Barrionuevo (Universidad de León): Open Access; Repository Søren Brier (Copenhagen Business School, Denmark): Cybersemiosis Luis Emilio Bruni (Aalborg University, Denmark): Symbol, Biosemiosis Mark Burgin (University of California Los Angeles, USA): General Theory of Information, Algo- rithmic Information Theory, Kolmogorov Complexity, Super-recursive Manuel Campos (Universitat de Barcelona): Correlation; Regularity; Representation; Situation semantics; Situation theory (ST); Truth value Rafael Capurro (Institut für Digitale Ethik, Germany): Angeletics; Automatic Identification (Ra- dio-Frequency Identification, RFID); Hermeneutics; Human Enhancements Technologies (HET); ICT implants; Information Ethics; Intercultural information ethics; Interpretation; Message; Roboethics; Surveillance society María Herminia Cornejo (UPSE, Ecuador), Oceanography and information Emilia Curras (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid): Informacionism José María Díaz Nafría (Senescyt-UPSE, Ecuador; Munich University of Applied Sciences, Ger- many; Universidad de León, Spain): Alphabet; Code; Communication channel; Context; Dialogic glossariumBITri xi EDITORIAL TEAM vs. Discursive; Disinformation; Encoder and Decoder; Fundamental Shannon's Theorems; Holographic Principle; Noise; Sign; Signal Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic (Mälardalen University, Sweden): Info-computationalism Jesús Ezquerro (Universidad del País Vasco): Cognition; Natural Psicology Juan Carlos Fernández Molina (Universidad de Granada): Information Rights Peter Fleissner (Technische Universität Wien, Austria): Commodification; Input vs Output [Sys- tem Theory]; Reversibility vs. Non-reversibility; System theory Anto Florio (Institute for Logic, Language and Computation, Amsterdam): Intentional Content Christian Fuchs (University of Westminster, UK): Critical Theory of Information, Communica- tion, Media, Technology Xosé Antón García-Sampedro (I.E.S. Bernaldo Quirós, Mieres): Information Aesthetics Roberto Gejman (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile): Difference; Record Igor Gurevich (Institute of Informatics Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Rusia) Infor- mation as heterogeneity Wolfgang Hofkirchner (Technische Universität Wien, Austria): Capurro's Trilemma; Emer- gentism; Information Society; Self-re-creation [UTI]; Self-reproduction [UTI]; Self-restructur- ing [UTI]; Structural information [UTI]; Unified Theory of Information (UTI) Manuel Liz (Universidad de La Laguna): Content; Informational Content; Mental Content; Mind; Non-informational access; Referential ability; Semantic content Rosa Macarro (Universidad de Extremadura): Receiver, Sender, Source Alfredo Marcos (Universidad de Valladolid): Information Measurement; Information as relation Estela Mastromatteo (Universidad Central de Venezuela): Digital divide; Information Literacy; Information Technologies José Méndez (Universidad de Salamanca): Contradiction Jorge Morato (Universidad Carlos III): Information Retrieval; Web social/Social Web; Topic Maps José Antonio Moreiro (Universidad Carlos III): Indexing language; Folksonomy; Taxonomy Walter Orozco (Universidad Estatal Península de Santa Elena, Ecuador), Data Bases Tomás Ortiz (Universidad Complutense de Madrid): Cerebral oscillations Julio Ostalé (Universitat de Barcelona): Barwise, K. Jon; Channel theory; Information Flow; In- formation Reports Mario Pérez-Montoro (Universitat de Barcelona): Data; Dretske, Fred; Information architecture; Information management; Information visualization; Knowledge; Knowledge management; Propositional content; Usability Carmen Requena (Universidad de León): Emotion; Motor information Gemma Robles (Universidad de Salamanca): Consistency; Paraconsistency Blanca Rodríguez (Universidad de León): Document; Documental content analysis; Library Science xii glossariumBITri EDITORIAL TEAM
Shendry Rosero (UPSE, Ecuador), Telematic Networks Francisco Salto (Universidad de León): Incompleteness; Infomorphism; Infon; Modal logic; Net; Tautology; Turing's Halting Theorem Lydia Sánchez (Universitat de Barcelona): Fotoblogs and Teenagers; Image; Incremental infor- mation [ST] Sonia Sánchez-Cuadrado (Universidad Carlos III): Knowledge Organization; Knowledge Or- ganization System; Ontology; Semantic Web; Thesaurus Jérôme Segal (Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences, Austria): Claude Elwood Shannon Washington Torres (UPSE, Ecuador), Telecommunication politics Margarita Vázquez (Universidad de La Laguna): Paradox; Surprise; System; Temporal Logics; Virtual Rainer Zimmermann (Munich University of Applied Sciences, Germany; Clare Hall-Cambridge, UK) Network; Space
Other authors The following authors (not included in the former list) have contributions to the articles spec- ified bellow: Yorgos Andreadakis (Universidad Carlos III): Semantic Web, Social Web Sylvia Burset (Universitat de Barcelona): Image, Fotoblogs and Teenagers, Information Aesthe- tics Eva Carbonero (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid): Folksonomy Anabel Fraga (Universidad Carlos III): Folksonomy, Semantic Web, Social Web Mehrad Golkhosravi (Universitat de Barcelona): Data; Dretske, Fred; Information Architecture; Information Management; Information Visualization; Knowledge; Knowledge Management; Propositional Content; Usability
Language and style correction The following were in charge of enhancing grammar and style correctness: Basil M. Alhadithi (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) (inglés) Anthony Hoffmann (University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, EE.UU.) (inglés) Rosa Macarro (Universidad de Extremadura) (inglés, español) Mercedes Osorio (I.E.S. Ramiro de Maeztu, Madrid) (inglés)
glossariumBITri xiii ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
Abbreviations and Acronyms
Abbreviations of authors and editors’ names Abbreviations used at the footing of each article for the identification of the contributors. AF Anto Florio JFM J.C. Fernández Molina MPM Mario Pérez-Montoro AFV Anabel Fraga Vázquez JE Jesús Ezquerro MV Margarita Vázquez BA Balu Athreya JGS J. A. García-Sampedro PF Peter Fleissner BH Basil M. Al Hadithi JM José Méndez PM Pedro Marijuán BR Blanca Rodríguez JMA Juan Miguel Aguado RC Rafael Capurro CA Carlos Aguilar JMD José Maria Díaz RG Roberto Gejman CF Christian Fuchs JML Jorge Morato Lara RM Rosa Macarro CR Carmen Requena JO Julio Ostalé RZ Rainer Zimmermann EC Eva Carbonero JRA Juan Ramón Álvarez SB Søren Brier ECP Emilia Curras Puente JS Jérôme Segal SBB Sylvia Burset Burillo EM Estela Mastromatteo LB Leticia Barrionuevo SR Shendry Rosero FS Francisco Salto LEB Luis Emilio Bruni SSC S. Sánchez-Cuadrado FV Freddy Villao LS Lydia Sánchez TO Tomás Ortiz GR Gemma Robles MB Mark Burgin WH Wolfgang Hofkirchner GD Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic MC Manuel Campos WO Walter Orozco IG Igor Gurevich MG Mehrad Golkhosravi WT Washington Torres JAM José Antonio Moreiro ML Manuel Liz YA Yorgos Andreadakis
Other abbreviations and acronyms used in the glossariumBITri AIT Algorithmic Information Theory EHEA Europeo Higher Education Area FIS Foundations of Information Science GTI General Theory of Information ICT Information and Communication Technologies INFOLIT Information Literacy LIS Library and Information Science MTC Mathematical Theory of Communication OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ST Situational Theory UTI Unified Theory of Information
xiv glossariumBITri
A
ALGORITHMIC INFORMATION (S. in- References formación algorítmica, F. information algorithmique, ― BURGIN, M. (2010). Theory of Information: Fundamen- G. algorithmische Information) [transdisciplinary, tality, Diversity and Unification. Singapore: World Sci- ICT] concept, theory entific Publishing. ― CHAITIN, G. J. (1966). "On the length of pro- Algorithmic information reflects aspects and grams for computing finite binary sequences". Jour- properties of information related to algo- nal of the Association for Computing Machinery, Vol. 13, rithms (s. also →Algorithmic Information Theory, 547-569. and →Axiomatics for Algorithmic Information). ― KOLMOGOROFF, A. N. (1965). Three ap- proaches to the quantitative definition of ‘infor- Many information processes, such as network mation'. Problems of Information Transmission, Vol. 1, messaging or computer information pro- Num. 1, 3-11. cessing, have algorithmic nature as they are ― SOLOMONOFF, R. J. (1960). A Preliminary Re- performed according to various algorithms. port on a General Theory of Inductive Inference. Report V-131, Zator Co., Cambridge, Ma. Feb 4, Two kinds of algorithmic information are 1960. considered: (1) algorithmic information neces- ― SOLOMONOFF, R. J. (1964). A formal theory of inductive inference. Inf. Control, Vol. 7, 1-22 (I part), sary to build a constructive object by a given 224-254 (II part). system of algorithms and (2) algorithmic in- formation in an object, e.g., message, which al- (MB) lows making simpler construction of another object. The most popular measure of algorith- ALGORITHMIC INFORMATION mic information of the first type is absolute Kol- THEORY (S. Teoría Algorítmica de la Infor- mogorov or algorithmic complexity. The most pop- mación, F. Théorie Algorithmique de la Information, ular measure of algorithmic information of the G. Algorithmische Informationstheorie) [Infor- second type is relative Kolmogorov or algorithmic mation Theory, Computer Science, Coding complexity (→Kolmogorov complexity). theory, Complexity theory] theory According to the classes of algorithms used Contents.— 1) Symbolic objects and symbols; 2) Recon- for information acquisition, processing and structive sense of algorithmic information; 3) Versions of al- utilization, three types of algorithmic infor- gorithmic information measures; 4) Algorithmic vs common mation have been separated and studied: sense information: object vs carrier of information; 5) Timely and semiotic aspects of algorithmic information with respect ― subrecursive algorithmic information, to other information meanings. ― recursive algorithmic information (→Kol- Algorithmic information theory is based on mogorov complexity), and the concept of Kolmogorov or algorithmic ― super-recursive algorithmic information complexity of objects, which provides means (→Super-recursive Kolmogorov complexity). to measure the intrinsic information related to objects via their algorithmic description length (s. also →algorithmic information). As it is gener- ally assumed, this measure was introduced and glossariumBITri 17 ALGORITHMIC INFORMATION THEORY studied by three authors: Ray Solomonoff have mathematical structure. The main ques- (1964), Andrey Kolmogorov (1965) and tion is how much information we need to re- Gregory Chaitin (1966). Algorithmic ap- construct (compute) a given string (word). proach explicates an important property of in- Thus, the traditional approach in algorithmic formation, connecting information to means information theory treats only symbolic infor- used for accessing and utilizing information. mation. This question relates information to Information is considered not as some inher- complexity because measure of necessary in- ent property of different objects but is related formation appears here as a measure of com- to algorithms that use, extract or produce this plexity of the string reconstruction. information. In this context, a system (person) with more powerful algorithms for infor- 2. Reconstructive sense of algorithmic in- Reconstruction/computation of a mation extraction and management can get formation. string of symbols is an action that is realized more information from the same carrier and as a process. Its complexity depends on means use this information in a better way than a sys- that are used for reconstruction. To make this tem that has weaker algorithms and more lim- idea precise a concept of an algorithm is used. ited abilities. This correlates with the conven- Namely, strings are reconstructed (built) by al- tional understanding of information. For in- gorithms. Algorithms are working in the do- stance, system (person) that (who) has a code main of strings and this domain usually con- C can read codified in C texts, while those who sists of all finite strings in some alphabet. In do not have this code cannot read such texts. this context, an algorithm (it is also possible to As a result, efficiency or complexity of algorithms say, automaton or computer) takes one string becomes a measure of information in contrast of symbols z and eventually produces another to the traditional approach when information string x, as represented in the following figure. is treated as uncertainty or diversity. Efficiency is a clue problem and a pivotal characteristic of any activity. Consequently, measures of ef- ficiency and complexity provide means for measuring information as a dynamic essence. The input string is a carrier of information Algorithmic information theory has been ap- about the output string, i.e., string that we are plied to a wide range of areas, including the- going to reconstruct/compute. It is possible ory of computation, combinatorics, medicine, to consider the input string z as the program biology, neurophisiology, physics, economics, that has been given to the algorithm/machine hardware and software engineering, probabil- for computing x. This program provides in- ity theory, statistics, inductive reasoning, and formation about x for an algorithm (compu- machine learning. ting device). In such a way, researchers come to information size (complexity) of a string of 1. Symbolic objects and systems. Objects symbols, which is the theory's fundamental considered in algorithmic information theory concept. Note that very often, information are strings of symbols because the most habitual content of a string is called Kolmogorov com- representation of information uses symbols plexity. Namely, the information content C(x) and it is possible to represent other structures of a string x is the minimum quantity of infor- codifying them by strings of symbols. It is nat- mation needed to reconstruct this string. In ural to interpret such strings as words or texts the conventional approach, such quantity of in some language. It means that information is input information is measured by the size of presented and processed in the symbolic form information carrier and as carriers are strings and all systems are represented by their symbolic of symbols the volume of a string z is the (semiotic) models (→symbol). Exact models length l(z) of this string. Thus, the length of
18 glossariumBITri ALGORITHMIC INFORMATION THEORY the shortest program for calculating the out- according to the algorithmic information the- put string x gives the measure of information ory, random sequences have maximum com- needed to reconstruct/compute this string. plexity as by definition, a random sequence can have no generating algorithm shorter than 3. Versions of algorithmic information simply listing the sequence. It means that in- measures. Although this is the most popular formation content of random sequences is information measure in algorithmic infor- maximal. mation theory, other versions of algorithmic measures of information have been intro- Physicists were the first who attracted atten- duced. The most known of then are: uniform tion to this peculiarity. For instance, Richard complexity KR(x), prefix complexity or prefix-free Feynman (1999) wrote: complexity K(x), monotone complexity Km(x), con- "How can a random string contain any infor- ditional Kolmogorov complexity CD(x), time-bounded mation, let alone the maximum amount? Surely we Kolmogorov complexity Ct(x), space-bounded Kolmo- must be using the wrong definition of 'infor- gorov complexity Cs(x), and resource-bounded Kolmo- mation'?..." gorov complexity Ct,s(x). In addition, algorithmic information theory has been extended to infi- To eliminate these contradictions and discrep- nite processes, infinite words (Chaitin, 1976; ancies that are prevalent in algorithmic infor- 1977), →super-recursive algorithms (Burgin, 1995; mation theory and to solve the problem of 2005; Schmidhuber, 2002) and quantum com- correct understanding the meaning of the putations (Svozil, 1996; Vitanyi, 1999; 2001). function C(x), it is more adequate to consider Each new development of algorithmic infor- C(x) and all its versions as measures of information mation theory has been connected to consid- about x or the information size of x with the spe- ering different classes of algorithms as means cial goal to build or reconstruct x. It means for information acquisition, processing and that in reality, x is not the carrier of information utilization. At first, only subrecursive classes measured by C(x), but the object of this infor- (i.e., subclasses of the class of all Turing ma- mation. Thus, it becomes not surprising that chines, such as the class of all delimiting Tu- people, or a machine, need more information ring machines) were used for this purpose. about a random sequence of letters to recon- Later more powerful, →super-recursive algo- struct it than about a masterpiece, such as a rithms, such as inductive Turing machines were poem by Dante or a novel by Cervantes. applied to the study of algorithmic infor- 5. Timely and semiotic aspects of algorith- mation (s. also →algorithmic information). mic information with respect to other in- Existence of a variety of approaches and algo- formation meanings. In order to reconcile rithmic measures of information caused a ne- the common sense of information with the cessity for a unifying approach. This approach one provided by the algorithmic information theory, the timely distinction introduced by called →axiomatic information theory was intro- Weizsäcker (1984) between potential and actual duced and developed by Burgin (1982; 1990; information is also fruitful (Lyre, 2002). In our 2005; 2010). case, while the aforementioned carrier (z in the 4. Algorithmic vs common sense infor- figure above) represents potential information mation: object vs carrier of information. (i.e. the possibility to reconstruct x), the object An essential problem with algorithmic com- of information x represents actual information plexity as a measure of information is related when the algorithmic system has effectively to its information theoretical interpretation. It reconstructed it. By abstracting the algorith- is generally assumed that the algorithmic com- mic resources and therefore addressing to an plexity of a binary string x measures the alleged optimal means, the specificity of z with amount of information in the string x. Thus, respect to a given algorithmic system is lost glossariumBITri 19 ALPHABET and only the objective of reconstruction, x, Although it would not be formulated as such, prevails. To this respect algorithmic infor- it is commonly clear that z has a syntactical mation can be seen as actual information. On value, whereas x has a semantic one. the contrary, the information concept pro- vided by the Mathematical Theory of Commu- References nication (MTC), information entropy, exclu- ― BURGIN, M. (1982). “Generalized Kolmogorov sively refers to the degree of uncertainty at the complexity and duality in theory of computations”. Soviet Math. Dokl., v.25, No. 3, pp. 19–23 recipient before being informed, thus abstract- ― BURGIN, M. (1990). “Generalized Kolmogorov ing the specific outcome. This shows that in- Complexity and other Dual Complexity Measures”. formation entropy has a fundamental poten- Cybernetics, No. 4, pp. 21–29 tial character complementary to algorithmic ― BURGIN, M. Super-recursive algorithms, Monographs in computer science, Springer, 2005 information. ― BURGIN, Mark (2010). Theory of Information: Funda- The semiotic distinction between syntactic mentality, Diversity and Unification. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing and semantic aspects offers as well some in- ― CHAITIN, Gregory J. (1969). "On the Simplicity sights to distinguish algorithmic information and Speed of Programs for Computing Infinite Sets from other senses of information. As argued of Natural Numbers". Journal of the ACM 16: 407. by Lyre (2002) algorithmic information – un- ― CHAITIN, G.J. Algorithmic Information Theory, Cam- bridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987 like →Shannon’s information – reflects, at the ― KOLMOGOROV, A.N. (1965). "Three Ap- same time, semantic and syntactic aspects: proaches to the Quantitative Definition of Infor- “The algorithmic information content mation". Problems Inform. Transmission, Vol.1, Num.1, measures actual information under both syn- pp. 1–7. ― LYRE, H. (2002). Inforsmationstheorie. Munich: tactic and sematic aspects” (Lyre 2002, p. 38). Wilhelm Fink Verlag In our context, x can be regarded as the se- ― SOLOMONOFF, Ray (March 1964). "A Formal mantic value of the algorithmic information or Theory of Inductive Inference Part I". Information process (note x may be a set of operations and Control, Vol. 7, Num. 7, pp. 1–22. with a particular effect on the environment, ― SOLOMONOFF, Ray (June 1964). "A Formal The- ory of Inductive Inference Part II". Information and for instance, a manufacturing process, there- Control, Vol. 7, Num. 2, pp. 224–254. fore it reflects not only semantics but also ― WEIZSÄCKER, C.F. (1985). Aufbau der Physik. pragmatics), whereas z represents its syntacti- Munich: Hanser. cal value. In the invariant form of algorithmic (MB –ed.-; MB, JMD) information, z corresponds to the minimal syntactics to address the object semantics rep- resented by x. On the contrary, is well known ALPHABET (S. alfabeto, F. alphabet, G. alpha- that MTC programmatically restrict infor- bet) [transdisciplinary, ICT] concept, resource mation to its syntactic dimension. The term (from Latin alphabētum, and this from These same distinctions are to some extent Greek ἄλφα, alfa, and βῆτα, beta) has been origi- also used in the common senses of infor- nally used to refer to the writing system whose mation. When we consider that we need infor- symbols (letter) are in relative correspondence mation, this is regarded in its potential value. with phonemes of the spoken language, in con- While when we say that we have the infor- trast to those writings in which the corre- mation someone need, this is regarded in its spondence is established withmorphemes or syl- actual value, though what we factually have is lables. However, the usage has been extended some z that might eventually be shared and we to refer to the set of symbols employed in a suppose the third party has the algorithmic communication system. This is the sense nor- means (as we do) to reconstruct some x, which mally used in communication theory and par- for some reason might be cherished. Then ticularly in the model of information transmis- having z is practically equivalent to having x. sion (especially in its syntactic level, such as in
20 glossariumBITri ANGELETICS the case of MTC), labelling the finite set of ― OSLIN, G.P. (1992). The story of telecommunications. symbols or messages that make up the code Macon GA (EE.UU.): Mercer University Press. → ― SEGAL, J. (2003). Le Zéro et le Un. Histoire de la which must be known for both the emitter and notion scientifique d'information, Paris: Syllepse. receiver. ― SHANNON, C. E. (1948), “A Mathematical Theory of Communication”. The Bell System Technical Journal, There are two fundamental features to charac- Vol. 27 (July, October), pp. 379–423, 623–656. terise the alphabet with regard to its performance in communication efficiency: 1) its adequacy to the con- (JMD) straints of the communication channel (e.g., that the stroke could be continuous or not, or ANGELETICS (S. angelética, F. angeletique, G. that the spectral content had to be limited to a Angeletik) [Communication theory, Infor- given range); 2) thedifferentiability of its compo- mation ethics] concept nent symbols. The former because it will just . 1) What is angeletics?, 2) To what extent be effective whatever succeeds in crossing the Contents — is this a new science?, 3) A transparent society?, 4) A time channel; the latter because depending on it the of empty angels, 5) From hermeneutics to angeletics, 6) Con- reception in noisy environments will be better clusion or worse. Indeed, Kotelnikov (1959) proved that the detection error probability is a func- 1. What is angeletics? It is the name of a field tion of such differences (measured in terms of of philosophic and scientific research. Why is energy with respect to the noise spectral den- it called like that? The word 'angeletics' derives sity). from Greek angelia, meaning message. We use it when we refer to angels or divine messen- Concerning alphabets coming from natural gers. There is a long tradition in theology and languages, they exhibit relevant features re- religious studies called angelology. Angeletics garding an efficient coding for transmission is different from angelology, its purpose being through artificial channels: 1) the statistical fre- to study the phenomenon of messages and quency of each symbol, and 2) the statistical de- messengers within the boundaries of the condi- pendence between a symbol and its adjacent tion humaine, i.e. having as its primary object ones (i.e., the transmission probability of a human communication. This does not imply symbol j when the previous was i or a given that studies relating to messages and messen- sequence). The observation -by Alfred Vail- of gers in religion or the natural sciences are ex- the first feature in the development of the cluded. Since the Internet, digital messages Morse code played a major role in the success and messengers are playing an important role of Morse Telegraph (Oslin 1992) and proba- in social communication. bly, it played an important heuristic role in the forging of the concept of information meas- 2. To what extent is it a new science? It is ure, especially in Hartley and Shannon work evident that the social phenomenon of mes- (Lundheim 2002, Segal 2003). The last one ac- sages and messengers is a vast, old and com- counts for both features in his famous "Math- plex phenomenon. The industrial revolution ematical Theory of Communication" in order has attributed a lot of value to the marketing to determine the entropy (or information amount) theory, that is, the study of propagating mes- of a source (Shannon 1948). sages to obtain economic benefits. Moreover, when we go back to the cultural revolution References caused by the invention of the press we can ― KOTELNIKOV, V.A. (1959). The Theory of Optimum perceive the influence of this technique in the Noise Immunity. Russia 1956, EE.UU.: McGraw Hill. worldwide dissemination of political, religious ― LUNDHEIM, L. (2002). “On Shannon and "Shan- and economic messages in modern times. We non's Formula"”, Telektronikk (special issue on "In- formation theory and its applications") vol. 98, no. should not forget the history of the technique 1-2002, pp. 20-29. and organization of the post offices and, last glossariumBITri 21 ANGELETICS but not least, the history and theory of rela- Marshall McLuhan: "The medium is the mes- tions between the states based on embassies sage". The question then is exactly to what ex- and ambassadors. tent the Internet creates a new angeletic space giving rise to new synergies of messages and 3. A transparent society? The technical rev- messengers beyond the hierarchical and abso- olution of the printing press creates a new sit- lute or pseudo-absolute character of sacred uation that is both informative and angeletic. messages or their political substitutes. If, ac- Immanuel Kant sees in the non-censored dis- cording to Sloterdijk (1983), mass media have tribution of scientific research through the a cynical structure, the question arises now press the medium in which the ideals and mes- about the "fantasmatic" character of the new sages of Enlightenment can spread and indi- media (Zizek 1997, Capurro 1999a). rectly influence public politics. Since then new political and (pseudo)-scientific messages ap- Based on that, we now reach what we call peared seeking to occupy the place of religious →information ethics, aimed at explaining the messages and messengers with catastrophic possible theoretical and practical horizons in consequences for society and nature, making order to maintain, organize and create new full use as, for instance, in the case of Nazi forms of common life. This current praxeo- Germany, of radio-diffusion. The peak of logical horizon explored by the information mass media, through its one-to-many struc- ethics is given in a world where, on the one ture, opened the debate about the task of cre- hand, the classic parameters of time and place ating a public space free of pressure structures, are questioned as determining factors for the where the force of the arguments and reason- creation and diffusion of messages; on the ing of the players has precedence. This was the other hand, the local structures of political ideal proclaimed by philosophers like Jürgen power up to now controlling such a phenom- Habermas. According to Habermas, Kant enon are now paradoxically in the inverse sit- could not foresee the transformation of the uation. The great economic and social (r-)evo- public space dominated by mass media lutions are founded less on the prevalence of (Capurro, 1996a). Italian philosopher Gianni media to produce material objects, as Karl Vattimo, in his turn, criticized the Haber- Marx thought, than on the media to communi- masian transparent society, with emphasis on cate messages. The latter are the basis of the its utopian aspect and leveler of differences, so former (Capurro, 1995, 1999). that a "weaker" or less transparent structure 5. From hermeneutics to angeletics. Lastly, permits different kinds of cultural mixes that I would like to mention the relationship be- are more clearly reflected today in the decen- tween angeletics and hermeneutics (Capurro, tralizing character of the Internet (Vattimo 2000b). Hermeneutics was one of the main 1989). schools of philosophical thought in the 20th 4. A time of empty angels. German philoso- century. Apart from the disputes between pher Peter Sloterdijk has pointed out that we schools (positivism, Marxism, critical rational- live in a "time of empty angels" or "mediatic ism, analytical philosophy, scientific theory, nihilism", in which we forget what message is etc.), we can say that one of the great results to be sent while the messengers of transmis- of the study on the 20th century has been the sion media multiply: "This is the very disange- awareness of the interpretative nature of hu- lium of current times" (Sloterdijk 1997). The man knowledge. This is valid both for Karl word disangelium (por bad news) stands out, in Popper, for example, who presented a charac- contrast to euangelium, for the empty nature of terization of scientific knowledge as being an the messages disseminated by the mass media, eminently conjectural knowledge, subject to culminating in the widely-known words of empirical falsifications, or for the "hermeneu- tic circle" explained by Hans-Georg Gadamer
22 glossariumBITri AUDIO-VISUAL CONTENT with basis on Heideggerian analytics. Each in- ― CAPURRO, R. (1999a). Beyond the Digital. [Online] terpretation presupposes a process of message
Furthermore, images are rich in contents, ― Structural information on spatial, temporal while in many applications text may not be or spatio-temporal components of the con- rich enough to describe images in an effective tent (scene cuts, segmentation in regions, way. To overcome these difficulties, in the region motion tracking). early 1990s, content-based image retrieval ― Information about low level features in the emerged as a promising means for describing content (colors, textures, sound timbres, and retrieving images. Content-based image melody description). retrieval systems describe images by their own ― Conceptual information of the reality cap- visual content, such as color, texture, and ob- tured by the content (objects and events, in- jects’ shape information rather than text. In teractions among objects). 1996 MPEG recognize the need to identify multimedia content, and started a work item ― Information about how to browse the con- formally called ‘Multimedia Content Descrip- tent in an efficient way (summaries, varia- tion Interface', better known as MPEG-7. tions, spatial and frequency sub bands,). ― Information about collections of objects. The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) is a working group of ISO/IEC (formally ― Information about the interaction of the ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11) in charge of user with the content (user preferences, us- “development of international standards for age history). compression, decompression, processing, and References coded representation of moving pictures, au- ― EC (1999). Principles and guidelines for the Com- dio, and their combination, in order to satisfy munity's audiovisual policy in the digital age. a wide variety of applications”. [Online] European Commission.
24 glossariumBITri AXIOMATICS FOR ALGORITHMIC INFORMATION
(αυτο-ποιησις, ‘auto (self)-creation’), neologism “meaning offer” (Mitteilung) and “under- introduced in 1971 by the Chilean biologists standing” (Verstehen) (in which each part dif- Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela to ferentiates the other two and leads them to- designate the organisation of living systems in wards a unity), where the information is but a terms of a fundamental dialectic between selection within the “meaning offer” through structure and function. Although the term a connection between differences. Therefore, emerged in biology, afterwards it came to be there would not be strictly a transmission of used in other sciences as well. Its use by the information between emitter and receiver; in- sociologist Niklas Luhmann is worth pointing stead, the first one makes a suggestion for the out. It can be said that the →UTI takes and selection of the second one, so that the infor- reproduces the concept in more differentiated mation for both is different, although, in any categories (→self-restructuring, self-reproduction case, it is constituted through communication and self-recreation). pro-cesses. For Maturana and Varela, autopoiesis is a fun- References damental condition for the existence of living ― MATURANA, H. y VARELA, F. (1980), Autopoie- beings in the continuous production of them- sis and cognition: the realization of the living, Dor- selves. According to Maturana (Transfor- drecht, Reidel. mation in coexistence), “living beings are net- ― MATURANA, H. y VARELA, F. (1996), El árbol del conocimiento. Las bases biológicas del conoci- works of molecular production in which the miento humano, Madrid, Debate. produced molecules generate, through their ― LUHMANN, N. (1989). Essays on self-refer- interactions, the same network that creates ence,New York, Columbia University Press. them”. Autopoietic systems are those that (JMA –ed.-; JMD) show a network of processes or operations that characterise them and which have the ca- pacity to create or destroy elements of the AXIOMATICS FOR ALGORITHMIC same system as a response to the disturbances INFORMATION (S. Axiomatica de la Infor- of the medium. Within them, even if the sys- mación Algorítmica, F. Axiomatique de l'information tem changes structurally, the network that algorithmique, G. Axiomatik für die algorithmische characterises them would remain invariable Information) [AIT, Complexity theory, Com- during its whole existence, maintaining its puter science, Coding theory] theory identity. Contents.— 1) Direct information sizes; 2) Dual com- For Luhmann, autopoiesis means a new theo- plexity measures; 3) Origin and advantages of the axiomatic retical paradigm, which, if applied to social approach to algorithmic information systems, has a self-referential nature that does The existence of a variety of algorithmic not restrict itself to the structural level; the na- measures of information brought forth a ne- ture itself constructs the elements that make it cessity for a unifying approach (→Algorithmic up. So, whereas in biological systems self-ref- information theory, and Algorithmic information). erence corresponds to self-reproduction, in This approach has been called axiomatic infor- social (or psychic) systems, it is constituted mation theory. through meaning (Sinn), which, in its turn, is produced by the “processing differences” Algorithmic information measures infor- which permit to “select” from the “meaning mation that is necessary to construct (build) a offer” (Mitteilung). According to the Luh- constructive object by means of some system mannian interpretation, “communication” of algorithm A. That is why algorithmic infor- (Kommunikation) melts the difference be- mation is dual to a static complexity measure tween “information” (Information), the (static direct information size) a of a constructive object x and is called by the name (A, α)- infor- glossariumBITri 25 AXIOMATICS FOR ALGORITHMIC INFORMATION mation size of x. Dual information size is con- measures are constructed by a similar tech- structed from direct information size by the nique. As a result, it is possible to axiomatize minimization operation. For instance, a natu- this approach. The result of this axiomatiza- ral direct information size for algorithms/pro- tion is called dual complexity measures (Burgin, grams is the length of their description (sym- 2005). As before, we are going to call these bolic representation), and the same is true for measures by the name dual information size as data. It is possible to measure length in such they reflect information necessary to compute natural units of information as bits and bytes. (construct) a given object. These measures When taking the dual to this measure in the give much more opportunities to estimate in- class of recursive algorithms, we obtain Kol- formation size of words and infinite strings mogorov complexity or recursive information than conventional types of information size size (→Kolmogorov complexity). (→Kolmogorov complexity).
The axiomatic description of dual information Let A = {Ai ; i ∈ I} be a class of algorithms, size uses axiomatic descriptions of direct com- A be an algorithm that works with elements plexity measures suggested by Blum (1967; from I as inputs and α: I → N be a direct 1967a) and further developed by Burgin (1982; static information size of algorithms from a 2005; 2010). class A that satisfies axioms from (Blum, 1967) 1. Direct information sizes. All kinds of direct or (Burgin, 2005, Ch.5). Elements of I are usu- information sizes are divided into three classes: ally treated as programs for the algorithm A. 1) Direct static information size depends only on The dual to α complexity measure or o an algorithm/program that is measured. (A, α) – information size αA of an object Direct static information size usually re- (word) x with respect to the algorithm A is flects information in the algorithm/pro- the function from the codomain (the set of all gram representation. The length of a text outputs) Y of A that is defined as (of an algorithm) measures information in α o α ∈ bits. If we say that a memory has the capac- A (x) = min { (p); p I and A(p) = x} ity 1 gigabytes, it means that it is possible to When there is no such p that A(p) = x, the 9 o store 8×10 bits of information in this value of αA at x is undefined. memory. When there is no such p that A(p) = x, the 2) Direct functional information size depends both o value of αA at x is undefined. on an algorithm/program that is measured and on the input. Examples of a direct When the class A has universal algorithms, functional information size are such popu- the invariance theorem is proved stating o lar measures as time of a computation or that αU (x) where U is a universal algorithm space used in a computation. in the class A is an optimal – in some sense – o 3) Direct Processual information size depends on measure in the class of all measures αA (x) an algorithm/program, its realization, and with A from the class A (Burgin, 2010). This o on the input. Examples of a direct proces- allows one to take αU (x) as an axiomatic com- sual information size are time that it takes plexity measure (axiomatic information size) to process given input or the number of in the class A. data transactions between memories of dif- ferent type used in this process. 3. Origin and advantages of the axiomatic approach to algorithmic information. An 2. Dual complexity measures. Information axiomatic approach to algorithmic infor- size, or algorithmic complexity, can be defined mation theory was introduced by Burgin in a for different classes of algorithms, resulting in paper presented for publication by Kolmogo- different measures. However, all these rov (Burgin 1982) and further developed in
26 glossariumBITri AXIOMATICS FOR ALGORITHMIC INFORMATION the paper (Burgin, 1990) and in books (Burgin 2005; 2010). The axiomatic approach encom- passes other approaches in the algorithmic in- formation theory. It is possible to treat differ- ent measures of algorithmic information as particular cases of axiomatically defined measures of algorithmic information. Instead of proving similar theorems, such as the basic invariance theorem, for each particular meas- ure, it is possible to easily deduce all such re- sults from one corresponding theorem proved in the axiomatic setting. This is a general ad- vantage of the axiomatic approach in mathe- matics. References ― BLUM, M. (1967). On the Size of Machines. Infor- mation and Control, v. 11, pp. 257–265 ― BLUM M. (1967a). A Machine-independent Theory of Complexity of Recursive Functions. Journal of the ACM, v. 14, No.2, pp. 322–336 ― BURGIN, M. (1982). Generalized Kolmogorov complexity and duality in theory of computations. Soviet Math. Dokl., v.25, No. 3, pp. 19–23 ― BURGIN, M. (1990). Generalized Kolmogorov Complexity and other Dual Complexity Measures. Cybernetics, No. 4, pp. 21–29 ― BURGIN, M. (2005). Super-recursive algorithms. Mono- graphs in computer science, Heidelberg: Springer. ― BURGIN, Mark (2010). Theory of Information: Funda- mentality, Diversity and Unification. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing. (MB)
glossariumBITri 27
C
CHANNEL THEORY (S. teoría de canales, F. It does not matter what a, b, F, G are. It might théorie des canaux, G. Kanaltheorie) [logic, seman- be the case that a, b are objects and F, G are tics, computer science] theory properties (as in monary predicate logic); per- haps a, b are situations whereas F, G are situa- Contents.— 1) Formulation of the subject matter, 2) In- formation flow in a distributed system, 3) Information chan- tion types (as in situation theory); maybe a, b nels, 4) Information flow: the ideal case, 5) Information are different instants a system goes by, while flow: the practical case, 6) Fallibility in the flow of infor- F, G are system descriptions in the form of tu- mation, 7) Two versions of the theory. ples consisting of numbers (as in mathematical modelling). The point is that every part of a Channel Theory (also known as the Theory of distributed system consists of a collection of Information Channels, the Theory of Infor- tokens {a1, a2,...} as well as a collection of mation Flow or simply IF-Theory) is a logico- types {F1, F2,...}; both collections relate to mathematical theory that models the flow of each other by means of a classificatory rela- information among components of a so-called tion, giving rise to items of the form "a is F". "distributed system". Barwise and Seligman (1997) is the standard source. There are previ- This account of information reports goes back ous versions of the theory that are acknowl- to Dretske (1981). It was partially developed edged by the same name; in the last section we in the theory of situations of Barwise and will deal with that problem. Perry (1983), which Devlin (1991) updates. In situation theory, regularities betweenF and G There 1. Formulation of the subject matter. were studied under the name of "constraints", is a fundamental question that channel theory but physical connections between a and b were tries to answer: "How is it possible for one hardly taken into account. Restrictions serve thing to carry information about another?" to explain appropriately the relativity of infor- (Barwise and Seligman 1997: xi). Since entities mation flow, while the combination of re- convey information about each other as far as strictions and connections seems to be the key they are classified by abstract states, and more- to understand his fallibility. over the conveyed information depends also on certain background of connections (be- 2. Information flow in a distributed sys- tween things) and regularities (between ab- tem. Even though information is not defined, stract states), any answer to a particular in- it is assumed as something that "flows" among stance of the previous question has to fit the the components of a system. Such compo- following scheme (Barwise and Seligman nents may be distant from one another in time 1997: 13). and space; furthermore, they can be very dif- ferent one to each other. That is why it is said Information report: that the system is "distributed" (in computer The fact that a is in the abstract state F carries science this term has another meaning). Ex- the information that b is in the abstract state G ample: all the noticeboards, travel tickets and with respect to certain relationships that link a trains that make up a railway network form to- and b on the one hand, F and G on the other. gether a distributed system. glossariumBITri 29 CHANNEL THEORY
There are systematic correlations among com- whole" informational relationship. It is built ponents in every distributed system. They are up by two functions f = (f+,f–) that go in oppo- "regularities" that support the system's infor- site directions (see diagram) and fulfill the fol- mation flow, which in turn can be modelled by lowing condition: f–(a)R1t if and only if aR2f+(t) different theoretical constructs we call "infor- for all a in A2 and t in T1. This implies that the mation channels". image of type t says in A2 what t says in A1. There are four principles of information flow. They lead the mathematical development of the theory.
4) Information flow results from regularities in a distributed system. Vertical lines represent classificatory relations; 5) Information flow crucially involves both horizontal arrows are functions. Since the di- types and their particulars. rection of f+determines that of f we can also 6) It is by virtue of regularities among connec- write: tions that information about some compo- nents of a distributed system carries infor- mation about other components. 7) The regularities of a given distributed sys- We do not consider subscripts in R1 and R2 tem are relative to its analysis in terms of whenever it does not give rise to misunder- information channels. standing. In the diagrams we can do without the expressions R1 and R2. Let us see how to formalize the concepts of distributed system and information channel in Barwise and Seligman (1997: 34, 76) define an such a way that they match the above four information channel as a collection of info- principles. morphisms that share the same codomain. We can also say that a channel consists of a set Parts of a distrib- 3. Information channels. {A1,...,An} of classifications that represent the uted system are modelled as classifications. A parts of the distributed system, a classification classification A is a structure (A,T,R) where A C (the core) that represents the system as a and T are non-empty sets of tokens and types hole, and a set of infomorphisms {f1,...,fn} that respectively, and R is a relation from A to T. go from each of the parts onto C. Classifica- There might be tokens classified by several tions in {A1,...,An} can be repeated. Tokens in types, as well as types that classify several to- C are the connections of the system: of every kens. If a is in A and t is inT, then eRt means c in C it is said that it connects the tokens to that a is of type t. which c is related by means of {f1,...,fn}. Parts A classification provides the vocabulary (via {A1,...,An} inform about each other as long as T) and the context (via R) whereby it is possi- they all are parts of C. ble to speak about each component of the sys- Every channel models those conditions that tem. Typically, different tokens of a classifica- make the information flow possible in a dis- tion can be seen as the same physical system tributed system, which in turn can be mod- across different time points; types would be elled by different information channels. A dis- state descriptions of the system. tributed system D is a collection of elements Two classifications A1=(A1,T1,R1) and informing about each other. Formally, D con- A2=(A2,T2,R2) can be related one to another sists of an indexed class cla(D) of classifica- by means of an infomorphism f from A1 to A2, tions together with a class inf(D) of infomor- where A1 is the domain and A2 the codomain phisms whose domains and codomains are all of f. Intuitively, an infomorphism is a "part-to- in cla(D).
30 glossariumBITri CHANNEL THEORY
An information channel K covers a distributed Tokens of [A1+A2] are ordered pairs that com- system D if and only if cla(D) are the classifi- bine all the tokens in A1 and A2. The type set cations of the channel and for every info- of [A1+A2] is the disjoint union generated by morphism f in inf(D) there are infomorphisms types in A1 and A2. A token is of certain type from both the domain and codomain of f to if any of its components was of that type. In- the core of K such that the diagram formed by fomorphisms from the parts to the sum and these three infomorphisms commutes. The from the sum to the core are defined so that underlying idea is that all classifications in the the diagram commutes. distributed system are informational parts of 4. Information flow: the ideal case. Infor- the core whose channel covers the system. In mation channels tell us why the information Barwise and Seligman (1997: 89-97) it is flows within a distributed system; which are shown how to construct an information chan- the conditions of possibility of information. nel out of a distributed system. The logical apparatus we present in this sec- An information channel with four compo- tion and the next one is suitable for studying nents could be e.g. a flashlight of which we how that information flows. consider the bulb (A1), the switch (A2), the bat- Every classification A is equipped with its own teries ( 3) and the case ( 4). The correspon- A A "theory", namely the class of regularities ding diagram: among types that are supported by the tokens. How to formalize this idea of regularity that depends on the idea of classification? IfT1, T2 are subsets of T, then a token a of A satisfies the pair (T1,T2) if and only if aRt for all t in T1 implies aRt for some t in T2. Every pair (T1,T2) satisfied by some token is a regularity.
Information flows across the channel: switch The theory Th(A) generated by A is a structure being ON and battery being charged inform (T, ⇒) consisting of the set T of types in A to- that the bulb is lite unless the case is broken; gether with a consequence relation ⇒ com- battery working properly informs that the bulb prised by all regularities in A. Given a theory, can be either lite or unlite, etc. we write T1⇒T2 and say that T1 implies T2 whenever (T1,T2) is a regularity of the theory. It is possible to simplify a channel so that it Relation ⇒ obey the logical properties of iden- contains only two classifications and one info- tity, monotony and cut that characterize de- morphism. In order to do that we get together ductive inference. its parts A1, A2, A3... in a sole classification by means of a "sum" that generates the classifica- Once we have the concepts of classification, tion [A1+A2+A3...] where all the information theory, infomorphism and information chan- that the parts of the channel previously con- nel, it is feasible to try out a first analysis of tained separately is now contained in a single information flow. Let be given a channel K classification. In the case of a channel with wherein two classifications A1 and A2 inform two parts: one about another in virtue of their informa- tional memebership C. The diagram looks like this:
glossariumBITri 31 CHANNEL THEORY
In general, for all infomorphism f from A to B there are two rules Intro-f and Elim-f for mov- Initial proposal: Let a1 be of type t1 in A1 and ing regularities from A to B and from B to A a2 of type t2 in A2. Then a1's being of type t1 respectively. Intro-f translates T1–f ⇒T2–f in A in A1 informs that a2 is of type t2 in A2, rel- into T1 ⇒ T2 in . Elim-f translates T1f⇒T2f in atively to the channel K, if and only if a1 and B ⇒ a2are connected through some token in C B into T1 T2 in A. By means of Intro-f, va- and moreoverf+(t1) implies f+(t2) in the teory lidity is preserved, while non-validity is not; by Th(C) (Barwise and Seligman 1997: 35). means of Elim-f, non-validity is preserved, while validity is not. Closer analysis of rules This first analysis bears in mind regularities in Intro-f and Elim-f suggests that we should C instead of regularities among the parts of generalize the concept of theory in order to the system. This is because we have adopted a cover logical systems that are possibly un- viewpoint external to this system, assuming as sound or incomplete. well that we are given complete information about its regularities. We have idetified that in- In the car example, as we apply Intro-f1 to the formation with Th(C). But in practice it is un- theory Th(A1) we get a consistent theory that likely, if not impossible, that we know all these might not be complete, and as we apply Elim- regularities. That's why it is convenient to re- f2 to that theory we get a third one (this time vise the previous analysis: we have to assume over A2) that might be unsound or incomplete an internal viewpoint with respect to the sys- or both. tem, wherein we are so to speak considering A local logic L = (A, ⇒, N) consists of a clas- just a part of the system; from observation of sification A, a binary relation => on type sets that part -together with our incomplete and from A satisfying identity, monotony and cut, fallible knowledge of the system as a whole- as well as a subset N of "normal" tokens from we have to extract information about other A satisfying all pairs (T1,T2) such that T1⇒T2. parts of the system. How to do this? By means Logic L is sound if every token is normal; it is of local logics. complete if for every pair (T1,T2) satisfied by 5. Information flow: the practical case. every normal token, it is true that T1⇒T2. The Given a classification A, its theory Th(A) is sound and complete local logic of A is Log(A), sound and complete. But we can consider log- which is but a generalization of Th(A). ical systems associated to A that are neither If we have in the previous diagram a local logic sound nor complete. It is precisely what local L(A1) associated to A1, we can define the logic logics are all about. Motivation for considering f1[L(A1)] generated by Intro-f1 from L(A1) and such systems comes from the study of situa- associated to C, as well as the logic f2– tions in which we have the theory of a "prox- [f1[L(A1)]] generated by Elim-f2 from the for- imal" classification A1 but we want to reason mer logic and associated to A2. The last logic about a "distal" classification A2 from what we might be unsound or incomplete, but it is all know about A1. Example: we drive a car and we have to reason about A2 from the starting the proximal classification consists of the point of the local logic L(A1). In general, it can speedometer, counting machine, gasoline indi- be proved that every local logic associated to a cator, and so on, whereas the distal classifica- classification is the local logic induced by tion is the engine.
32 glossariumBITri CHANNEL THEORY some binary channel, i.e. for every classifica- Basic proposal: Given a channel with only one tion A2 and local logic associated to it there infomorphism, its distributed logic is the in- exists a classificationA1 and a channel linking verse image of the local logic associated to both classifications such that the local logic as- the core (Barwise and Seligman 1997: 183). sociated to 2 is of the form f2–[f1[Log( 1)]]. A A This proposal is somehow less explicit than Does this fact bear any relation at all with our the previous one in that it does not mention logical model of information flow? Let us sup- the "information report" of the first section. pose there is a channel equipped with two However, it is obviously coherent with such a components, as in the former diagram, but scheme. To see it you only have to work out this time we do not have Log(C) for the core the basic proposal having into account the C. What we have is a local logic L on C that concepts involved in the sum of classifica- might be either unsound or incomplete. tions. Hence C can be seen as the distant classifica- 6. Fallibility in the flow of information. tion of a new channel whose core is C' and Whether a pair of types (T1,T2) is a regularity whose "proximal" classification O (for ob- or not, with respect to a distributed system, server) supports the logic Log(O), which is the depends on the information channel we use to logic the observer uses to reason C. It turns –1 model the very system (recall principle 4). And out that L on Cequals to g2 [g1[Log( )]] O this in turn depends on the analysis we adopt, as well as the tokens and types being assumed. As soon as we fix a distributed system, chang- ing the channel might imply a change in the regularities we are to accept, hence a change in the flow of information our logical model cap- tures.
As we take L instead of Th(C) we overcome A way of restricting the number of regularities the initial proposal because we assume now in a channel K is to "refine" it by means of a that our knowledge about C is incomplete and channel K' that has the same parts as K yet a fallible, for it is the knowledge of an observer different core C' that lies between C and the that tries to acquire information about parts in such a way that the following diagram commutes. A2from direct access to A1. But we still have to define the flow of information on the basis of regularities taking place among parts of the system, not on the basis (as in the initial pro- posal) of regularities among images of types within the core of the channel. In order to move forward we have to simplify the channel by means of the sum operation until we get a channel made up by a single component A and A straightforward case is that where functions a single infomorphism f (otherwise we should in r are identities and C' contains more tokens have regularities within each part of the system than C. From this case it should be obvious instead of regularities among those parts). At that, the more refined a channel, the more re- this point we use the rule Elim-f for getting f– liable the information it supports, since the 1(L), a local logic on A that happens to be the number of connections between tokens of dif- "distributed logic" or logic that codifies the in- ferent parts of the system increases. With re- formation flow of the channel. In other words: spect to the types: by Intro-r every regularity in K' is a regularity in K as well; now, by Elim- r not every regularity in K is a regularity in K' . glossariumBITri 33 CHANNEL THEORY
This means that whenever a regularity inK fails spaces (Barr 1979; Pratt 1999). Algebraic con- (because of exceptions) we do not have to structions over Chu spaces provide the se- seek alternative logics but alternative channels. mantics of the theory. Barwise (1997) investi- gate linkages to modal logic, whereas Barwise Suppose that A1 classifies the switch of a flash- (1999) is an application of the theory to the light at different times, whereas A2 classifies study of non-monotonic reasoning. Seligman the bulb of the very same flashlight again at (2009), in turn, is an attempt of merging the those times. If C does not take into account second version of channel theory with Shan- connections with the battery, it is a regularity non's statistical theory of signal transmission that the image of the type "on" implies the im- and codification (1948). age of the type "lite". As soon as a flashlight with a discharged battery plays the role of a Pérez-Montoro (2000, 2007) takes the view- counterexample to that regularity, we do not point of information content in his compre- have to seek a new logic (e.g. non-monotonic), hensive survey of Shannon, Dretske, situation rather we should try to define a new core C' theory and the first version of channel theory. that takes into account the battery as a relevant Restall (2005) deals with the first version of component of the flashlight, thus the new the theory from a logical perspective. Some re- channel would not admit as a regularity that cent surveys of information theories, like the image of "on" implies the image of "lite". Devlin (2001) or Bremer and Cohnitz (2004), devote a separate chapter to the second ver- 7. Two versions of the theory. There are two sion of channel theory. versions of channel theory. The second one is a development of the first one, which in turn Related resources stems from situation theory. Both versions ― Ontologos: http://www.ontologos.org/ originate in the collaborative work of Jon Bar- ― The Information Flow Framework: wise and Jerry Seligman during the 1990s. http://suo.ieee.org/IFF/ First version. The first published paper is Bar- References wise (1992). There it is suggested that situation ― BARR, M. (1979). *-Autonomous Categories, with an theory cannot explain fallibility in the infor- Appendix by Po Hsiang Chu. Lecture Notes in Mathe- mation flow because it considers relationships matics 752. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. between types of situations without paying at- ― BARWISE, J. (1992). “Information links in domain theory”. In: BROOKES, S. et al. (eds.). Mathematical tention to relationships between concrete sit- Foundations of Programming Semantics, Lecture Notes in uations. Such relations are introduced and the Computer Science 598, pp. 168–192. Berlin / Hei- resulting model is analyzed. Barwise (1993) is delberg / New York: Springer-Verlag. a much more sophisticated exposition. Selig- ― BARWISE, J. (1993). “Constraints, channels and the man (1990, 1991a, 1991b) had developed very flow of information”. In: ACZEL, P. et al. (eds.). Situation Theory and Its Applications. Volume 3, CSLI similar ideas to those of Barwise inde- Lecture Notes 37, pp. 3–27. Stanford: CSLI Publica- pendently. From collaboration of these two tions. authors arise the technical paper Barwise and ― BARWISE, J. (1997). “Information and Impossibili- Seligman (1993) and the more philosophical ties”. Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic, Vol. 38(4), pp. 488–515. Barwise and Seligman (1994). This version of ― BARWISE, J. (1999). “State-spaces, local logics and the theory was summarized in the survey pa- non-monotonicity”. In: MOSS, L. S. et al. (eds.). per Moss and Seligman (1994). Logic, Language and Computation. Volume 2, CSLI Lec- ture Notes 96, pp. 1–20. Stanford: CSLI Publica- Second version. The first and still standard refer- tions. ence is Barwise and Seligman (1997), where ― BARWISE, J. & PERRY, J. (1983). Situations and At- the previous version of the theory is reformu- titudes. Cambridge, MA: Bradford Books / The MIT lated in the mathematical framework of cate- Press. ― BARWISE, J. & SELIGMAN, J. (1993). “Imperfect gory theory, in particular the theory of Chu Information Flow”. In: VARDI, M. (ed.). Proceedings.
34 glossariumBITri CODE
Eight Annual IEEE Symposium on Logic in Computer Theories of Information, pp. 193–233. Berlin / Heidel- Science, pp. 252–260. Montreal: IEEE Computer So- berg / New York: Springer-Verlag. ciety Press. ― SHANNON, C. E. (1948). “A Mathematical Theory ― BARWISE, J. & SELIGMAN, J. (1994). “The rights of Communication”. Bell System Technical Journal, Vol. and wrongs of natural regularity”. In: TOMBER- 27 (July, October), pp. 379–423, 623–656. LIN, J. E. (ed.). Philosophical Perspectives, 8, Logic and language, pp. 331–364. Atascadero, CA: Ridgeview. (JO) ― BARWISE, J. & SELIGMAN, J. (1997). Information Flow: The Logic of Distributed Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. CODE (S. código, F. code, G. Kode) ― BREMER, M. & COHNITZ, D. (2004). Information [transdisciplinar, communication theory, and Information Flow. Frankfurt / Lancaster: Ontos cybernetics, semiotics] concept Verlag. ― DEVLIN, K. (1991). Logic and Information. Cam- Code is a system of signs and rules for con- bridge: Cambridge University Press. verting a piece of information (for instance, a ― DEVLIN, K. (2001). The Mathematics of Information. letter, word, or phrase) into another form or [Online] Helsinki (Finland): European School of Logic, Language and Information. representation, not necessarily of the same
36 glossariumBITri COMMUNICATION
COMMUNICATION (S. comunicación, F. cesses, supports the foundations of the inter- communication, G. Kommunikation, Verbindung, actional dimension of information and com- Mitteilung) [transdisciplinary] concept munication, which in turn makes possible their role in the meaning sphere. Contents.— 1) Three dimensions of a complex phenom- enon (a. the organizational dimension, b. the interactional b) The interactional dimension. To exist, dimension, c. the meaning dimension), 2) The ‘information- for a living being, is to be related to somebody. alist’ conception of communication, 3) The socio-cultural No living organism can develop efficiently far conception of communication. from ‘the others’, to such an extent, that the 1. Three dimensions of a complex phe- net of relations between an organism and its nomenon. It is possible to weave, from the environment, between an organism and other perspective of complexity, a continuity line organisms, becomes a prerequisite for life. among the three epistemological dimensions That relational condition is shared by every of communication: organizational dimension, living thing, not only by human beings. On the interactional dimension and meaning dimen- basis of its organizational condition, and as far sion. as any living organization is a refined example of a complex organization, communication Commu- a) The organizational dimension. comes to be the interactional logics among liv- nication and information enter the heart of ing beings. contemporary epistemology together with Shannon and Weaver’s Mathematical Theory It is necessary, however, to distinguish be- of Communication, von Bertalanffy’s General tween the conception of communication as in- Systems Theory and Wiener’s Cybernetics. teractional logics among living beings (behav- The organizational and adaptive dimension of ioural coordination) and that of communica- the concept of communication is posed by tion as a meaning practice. While certain con- Norbert Wiener as follows: sensus around ‘behavioural ecology’ can be observed in the first conception, there is no “Information is a name for the content of clear consensus in the latter. Thus, for in- what is exchanged with the outer world as we stance, Pradier (1985) and Mac Roberts (1980) adjust to it, and make our adjustment felt upon emphasize the need of intentionality as re- it. The process of receiving and of using infor- quirement for referring to communication in mation is the process of our adjusting to the a natural sense. To some extent, these and contingencies of the outer environment, and other authors presume self-consciousness as a of our living effectively within that environ- communicational prerequisite which, in the ment. To live effectively is to live with ade- end, restricts communication to the human quate information. Thus, communication and domain. They obviate, in that perspective, control belong to the essence of man's inner those contributions from ethology (Lorenz, life, even as they belong to his life in society” 1972; Tinbergen, 1979; y von Frisch, 1957) (Wiener, Cybernetics and Society, 1954:18) and zoo-semiotics (Sebeok, 1972), which Information is that way linked to the idea of point, in one way or another, to an evolution- order (in the sense of organizational regulari- ary line between communication in the biolog- ties) as well as conceived as a product of that ical sense and communication in those mean- very organizational order. If information is the ing oriented interactions that characterize hu- matter of complex organizational logics, com- mans. munication is then the process par excellence From a different point of view, and keeping a of that same organizational dynamics. That convenient distance from Neo-Darwinian so- very concept of information, as well as the or- cio-biological assumptions, the Chilean biolo- ganizational relevance of communication pro- gists Maturana and Varela (1996) depart from the biological basis of the social phenomenon glossariumBITri 37 COMMUNICATION to depict communication as a kind of recur- would be the process through which the so- sive behaviour: communication is a behaviour cially conscious self emerges. specialised in behavioural coordination. Pre- Since communication constitutes the sphere cisely due to that condition of being a behav- where interactions –which constructivism iour that coordinates behaviours, the above deals with at the epistemological level- take mentioned authors state that any social form place, Meads’ idea takes communication as the (human or not) is based on communicative be- prerequisite for human being both in its indi- haviour, since behavioural coordination vidual and social dimension. In addition, by comes to be the phenomenic expression and conceiving those internal processes (obviated the prerequisite of society. by behaviourism under the black box para- c) The meaning dimension. The conceptual digm) as intrinsically social, Mead’s theory be- frame of Symbolic Interactionism constitutes comes the driving force for all those perspec- the point of departure for the evolutionary tives focusing attention on subjects and pro- change of constructivism: from epistemologi- cesses, in opposition to those views which - cal and psychological constructivism to social like functionalism- emphasize structures and constructivism. That process is marked by the normative regularities. contributions of Palo Alto Group (Watzlawick Assuming Mead’s proposal on communica- et alt., 1981), Goffman’s interactional micro- tion as the core principle for both societal and sociology (Goffman, 1970) and Garfinkel’s individual constitution, Habermas (1987:134) Ethnomethodology (Garfinkel, 1967). That develops his foundation of sociological constructivist current of sociological thought thought in the terms of a theory of communi- progressively moves its focus from cognitive cation. From Mead on (together with the con- processes to the symbolic processes, and lies tributions of the Linguistic Turn in philoso- at the base of those communication studies phy), thinking the human subject becomes posing an alternative to the ‘black box’ para- thinking inter-subjective communication. The digms (which obviate the observation of process of objectivizing the self that symbolic mind-behaviour and society-action correla- interactionism elucidates comes to be in this tions). sense a socio-linguistic version of the episte- Especially, George Herbert Mead posed the mological reflection on the nature of the ob- interactional perspective as a critical answer to server. behaviourism and its stimulus-response Together with the interactional conception, model, putting the stress in the relevance of how the bond between the individual and the individual’s internal experience and in the social system is conceived also changes. None symbolic nature of inter-individual interac- of them can be thought of as external to each tions. The influence of Mead’s view can be other, since it is language, cognitive patterns, even tracked in Habermas’ Theory of Com- rules and values of community the point of municative Action (1987) and in Berger and reference for the subject to give sense to any Luckmann’s phenomenological-constructivist action. In its turn, social action has a sense thesis on the social construction of reality which is simultaneously ‘subjective’ (the at- (1979). tributed sense) and ‘objective’, reified, exter- In his well known Mind, Self and Society (1970), nalized in the expressions, patterns and norms Mead posed a theory for the social constitu- of relations. Thus, to understand how a sub- tion of the self as a sphere where the individual ject builds an image of the self involves (in the develops self-consciousness on the basis of his perspective of social relations but also in the or her capacity to adopt the other’s point of perspective of language use) his or her inter- view. That kind of externalized reflexivity actions with others, as well as the meaning and
38 glossariumBITri COMMUNICATION value systems and the rules that organize be- emitter and receiver. The receiver can show haviours and relations. the emitter, through verbal and non verbal sig- nals, how he or she interprets the message. 2. The ‘informationalist’ conception of And the emitter can adjust his or her message communication. On the basis of the sym- taking the place of the receiver, thus facilitat- bolic conception of communication and under ing that receiver's interpretation adapts to the the powerful influence of Shannon and preferred original meaning. In the role taking Weaver’s model, the process of human com- function, the emitter imagines the message munication is generally defined as a kind of from the receiver’s viewpoint, considering if symbolic action in which an emitter (or sender) the receiver will be able to understand it as it intentionally decides to start the process of will be intendedly formulated, or if some mod- sending a →message to a receiver through a ification is instead required. →communication channel in order to express a given meaning. The emitter codifies the mean- 3. The socio-cultural conception of com- ing via symbols, →signs or concrete represen- munication. Up to now we have character- tations, which may be verbal or non verbal, ized communication as a kind of information and are attached to common interpretations transmission. That idea of communication as the receptor also knows (→code). The receiver information transmission has been the domi- receives and identifies the signals, and using nant model for theoretical considerations on his or her knowledge of attributed conven- the communicative actions. However, com- tional meanings, the receiver changes his or munication is related also to other functions. her attitudinal behaviour. Some authors (Carey, 1989; Van Zoonen, 1994; Radford 2005) underline that the term In that process both emitter and receiver con- communication (Lat. Communicatio) is related to stantly and simultaneously exchange their communion, having in common, sharing, and roles, using a wide variety of variables from participating. From this viewpoint, communi- the context that make possible an appropriate cation shows a clear socializing function, since interpretation of the message. Communicative it contributes to building and developing com- processes are, in this view, essentially transac- munity through shared rituals, narratives, be- tional, simultaneous and interactive. Both the liefs and values. emitter and the receiver are involved in a pro- cess of mutual cooperation in the construction References of the message. ― ABRIL, G. (1997). Teoría general de la información. Ma- In any case, cognitive, psychological, social or drid: Cátedra. ― AGUADO, J.M. (2003). Comunicación y cognición. Sevi- cultural interferences can often affect the cor- lla: Comunicación Social Ediciones. rect interpretation of the message by the recip- ― BERGER, P. y LUCKMANN, T. (1979). La cons- ient. Nevertheless, the absolute coincidence is trucción social de la realidad, Buenos Aires: Amorrortu. usually not a requirement to produce commu- CASSIRER, E. (1998). Filosofía de las formas simbólicas. nication. Generally, we manage to exchange Vol. I. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica. ― FRISCH, K. von (1957). La vida de las abejas. Barce- information although the level of accuracy in lona: Labor. the interpretation is not complete. ― GARFINKEL, H. (1967). Studies in Ethnometodology. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice- Hall. In case of interpersonal communication, the ― GOFFMAN, E. (1970). Ritual de la Interacción, Bue- problem of semantic perception is usually nos Aires: Tiempo Contemporáneo. counterbalanced by means of receiver's ability ― HABERMAS, J. (1987). Teoría de la acción comuni- to answer (→feedback), and emitter’s ability to cativa 1. Racionalidad de la acción y racionalización social. Madrid: Taurus. put him/herself in the place of the recep (role- ― HABERMAS, J. (1989). Teoría de la acción comuni- taking function). Both functions help to avoid cativa II: Crítica de la razón funcionalista. Madrid: -as far as possible- the semantic gap between Taurus. glossariumBITri 39 COMMUNICATION CHANNEL
― LORENZ, K. (1972). El comportamiento animal y hu- through the information source, to the char- mano. Barcelona: Plaza y Janés. acteristics of the channel (which has certain ― MAC ROBERTS, M. H. y MAC ROBERTS, B. R. (1980). «Toward a minimal definition of animal limitations and available resources, such as the communication». The Psychological Record, 30. bandwidth or frequency margin that can be ― MEAD, G. H. (1970). Espíritu, persona y sociedad. Bue- sent). In the analysis, Shannon distinguishes nos Aires: Paidós. between channels without noise (which is ― PRADIER, .L. M. (1985). «Bio-logique et semio- logique». Degrés, 42-43. nothing but a theoretical abstraction that can ― SANCHEZ, L. (2008). «El fenómeno de la comuni- approximately correspond to a situation in cación», en Duran, J. y Sánchez, L. (eds.)Industrias de which the noise is negligible with respect to la comunicación audiovisual. Barcelona: Publicacions i the received signals) and channels with noise edicions de la Universitat de Barcelona. Col. Comu- (which is the normal situation and must espe- nicación activa ― SEBEOK, T. A. (1972). Perspectives in Zoosemiotics, cially be taken into consideration when the The Hague: Mouton. noise is notably present with respect to the sig- ― SHANNON, G. E. y WEAVER, W. (1981). Teoría nal). matemática de la comunicación. Madrid: Forja. ― TINBERGEN, N. (1975). Estudios de Etología, I y II, A fundamental part of Shannon’s theory is Madrid: Alianza Universidad. aimed at finding the limits of the →infor- ― VARELA, F. (1996). Conocer. Las ciencias cogniti- mation amount that can be sent to a channel vas: tendencias y perspectivas. Cartografía de las ideas actuales. Barcelona: Gedisa. with given resources (→Shannon’s fundamental ― WATZLAWICK, P. y otros (1988). La realidad inven- theorems). tada. Barcelona: Gedisa. ― WATZLAWICK, P., BEAVIN, J. y JACKSON, D. 2. In Channel Theory. In →channel theory a (1981). Teoría de la comunicación humana, Barcelona, channel sets up an informative relation between Herder. two situations. The fact that a channel relates ― WIENER, N. (1969). Cybernetics and Society, Cam- two situations, s1 and s2, is formally denoted as: bridge, MIT Press. c ⇒ (JMA –ed.-; JMA, LS) s1 s 2
Which means that the situation s1 contains in- COMMUNICATION CHANNEL (S. ca- formation about the situation s2, given the ex- nal de comunicación, F. canal de communications, G. istence of channel c. Kommunikationskanal) [transdisciplinary, MTC, The regularities of higher order, discriminated channel theory, situation theory] concept and individualised by an agent for a given sit- Contents.— 1) In Mathematical Theory of Communi- uation, constitute a type: the →information flow cation, 2) In Channel theory is caused by the existence of a type T sup- 1. In Mathematical Theory of Communi- ported by situation s1 (s1 T) transmitting in- cation. In the MTC and many other infor- formation about another type T’ supported by mation and communication theories by exten- situation s2 (s2 T’). In this schema, situations sion, C.C. deals with the medium (or set of s1 and s2 are respectively named signal situation media) that allow(s) transmitting the signals and target situation with respect to c. generated by the transmitter to the receiver. In formal terms, a channel c supports a con- As stated by Shannon: “merely the medium straint between types T and T’, supported by used to transmit the signal from transmitter to both signal and target situations: receiver. It may be a pair of wires, a coaxial cable, a band of radio frequencies, a beam of c T→T’ light, etc”. if and only if for all situations s1 and s2, when It could be said that the objective of the trans- s1 T and T→T’ then s2 T’. mission codifier is to adapt the messages, sent
40 glossariumBITri CONTEXT
In other words, if the situation s1 supports type References T, and there is a channel c between s1 and s2 The bibliographic resources offered by David supporting the constraint between two types CHALMERS in his website are extremely useful: of the respective situations (c T→T’), then sit-
CONTENT (S. Contenido, F. Contenu, G. In- CONTEXT (S. contexto, F. fr, G. al) [transdis- halt) [semantics, mind] concept ciplinary, communication theory] concept In many contexts, the term “content” is syn- onymous with “meaning”. There is content “Context” stems from the Latin verb “contex- where it is possible to make semantic evalua- tere”, meaning ‘to weave’ or ‘to interlace’. In a tions consisting in the attribution of properties figurative sense, it refers to the interlacing of like reference, connotation, sense, truth, etc. the meanings contained in a text or, generally, The three sorts of entities with the capacity to in a communication, as well as in the circum- have content are certain mental states (beliefs, stance in which this communication occurs desires, intentions, decisions, etc.), linguistic (e.g. physical, pragmatic and cultural environ- entities (words, sentences, texts, etc.), and ac- ment). It is this interlacing which enables spec- tions (and their results). In addition, a very im- ifying the meaning of what is intended to com- portant and widespread thesis, due to Paul municate. Although the meaning of ‘context’ Grice, is that linguistic entities and actions in relation to statements is common, it is also have content only because they are the out- applicable to the structure in which something come of certain mental states having content. is located, and without which it would be un- intelligible or less intelligible. There is however another sense of the term “content” when it is applied to mental states. A distinction can be made between situational According to that second sense, mental states context (or non-expressive context) and ex- could have two different kinds of contents. pressive context, in reference to the set of syn- They could have a conceptual content or a tactically and semantically related expressions, non-conceptual one. Non-conceptual content which, at the same time, are articulated would be the experiential, qualitative or phe- through deixis and modal indicators in the sit- nomenological content present in some men- uational context. Furthermore, the situational tal states like sensations, feelings, emotions, context can be divided into: general (related to etc. It would consist in a special way of expe- the communicational situation defined by the riencing the world and ourselves. time, place and action within which the com- glossariumBITri 41 CONTEXT munication is framed), socialand personal (de- because, in order to survive, it is the regulatory fined by the relationship between the commu- structure of the system (underpinning purpose nicants in their social interaction, their atti- orientation) which depends on the eventual tudes, interests and their respective changes in the environment. knowledge). Likewise from the quantum physics point of There is a great disparity in the analysis of con- view, information is –as stated by Mahler– a text from the different notions of information: “contextual concept”, intrinsically linked to a from complete oblivion (in the most objectiv- “situation”. This situation is the dynamic sce- isable meanings of information, according to nario where an interacting system makes “de- which information is entirely contained within cisions”, leading to a proper “information the message) to central attention (in those per- flow”. Therefore, in accordance with current spectives for which information makes only physics, it cannot be said that information is sense in social frameworks or in the adapta- encoded or conveyed in physical, elementary tion to the environment, and where the mes- components; instead, it only appears after sage is often regarded as a key to release the measuring. (v. Mahler 1996). information contained in the context). It is From the analysis of the semantic aspects of in- ironic that, while in linguistics the importance formation there has also been a change to- of context was highlighted, and in physics the wards a stronger concern on contexts: from classical conception of the outside observer the “ideal receiver” of Bar-Hillel and Carnap was lost, at the same time Shannon's Mathemat- (1952), capable of assessing information in ical Theory of Communication defined information terms of a structure of atomic statements (in as a typical characteristic of the information an almost formalised language), to the situa- source without referring to its context. Some- tional semantics of Barwise, Perry, Israel… thing similar can be said concerning the ori- (1980s and 1990s) in which information is not gins of the cognitive sciences in the 1956 Sympo- anymore conceived as a property of events but sium on Information Theory, where the con- something essentially dependent on the con- sideration of cultural and historical contexts in text and the consistency restrictions between which cognitive processes are immersed was statements (→informational content). Here, it is minimized. However, although we might also worth pointing out the proposal of speak about epistemological anachronism, it Dretske that considers information in relation also has to be acknowledged that the discus- to a knowledge background and the proposal sion about the hidden variables in quantum of Floridi basing information not on truth (as theory was alive, and the project on the unifi- Dretske or the situationalists do, involving, in cation of sciences of the Vienna circle was still a certain way, a privileged view beyond any running; on the other hand, the so-called his- context), but on veracity, which entails the fal- toricist turn, which would underline the im- libility of the interpreter and the belonging to portance of cultural contexts, was still far a temporality and a finite knowledge (Floridi away. 2005). Nevertheless, in the field of →cybernetics, the Although, as stated above, many of the infor- contextualization of information has been an mation theories related to cognitive sciences intrinsic aspect of its theory from the very be- show a reducing tendency to minimise the role ginning, since it is in the pragmatic situation of context, in other fields of social science, a (in which the environment is involved) that in- number of approaches stressing context as an formation gains meaning as a fundamental essential element have arisen. Thus, while un- means to pursue an objective. Even so, it is der the cognitive interpretation the subject ex- cybernetics of the second order that will stress tracts information from the physical-chemical its demand with regard to contextualisation,
42 glossariumBITri CONTRADICTION properties of the sensory stimuli, in the her- ― FLORIDI, L. (2005). Semantic Conceptions of In- meneutic, historical, critical-sociological and formation. In E. N. Zahlta (ed.) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philisophy. Stanford: The Metaphysics Research Luhmannian approach, the reference and Lab. [online]
44 glossariumBITri CRITICAL THEORY OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY
― HEGEL, G.W.F. (1841). Wissenschaft der Logik. An obvious problem with it concerns the Erster Teil. Die objektive Logik. Berlin: Henning. value of the conditional probability of the sig- [online] Guttemberg Project (ed. 2004) < http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/6729 > [accessed: nified, given the sign. In his explanation of the 12/12/2009] notion, Dretske required that this probability ― ADORNO, T.W. (1956). Zur Metakritik der be of 1, which, in most cases of transmission Erkenntnisstheorie. tudien über Husserl und die of information, has as a consequence the need phänomenologischen Antinomien. Stuttgart: Kohl- hammer. for a theoretically dubious strengthening of ― ADORNO, T.W. (1966). Negative Dialectics, (trans. the channel conditions. On the other hand, if E. B. Ashton, 1973). New York: Seabury Press. one accepts that the conditional probability ― BAR-HILLEL, Y. & Carnap, R. (1953). Semantic might be less than 1, not only a signal might information. British Journal of Science, 4, 147-157. occur without the occurrence of its signified ― DRETSKE, F.I. (1981), Knowledge and the flow of information. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. (even with local conditions holding) −as when ― BARWISE, Jon (1997). Information and Impossibil- a beaver splashes the water with its tail in the ities. Notre Dame J. Formal Logic, 38(4), 488-515. absence of any real danger)− but we would be ― FLORIDI, L. (2005c). Semantic Conceptions of In- compelled to say, for instance, that the splash- formation. In E. N. Zahlta (ed.) Stanford Encyclo- pedia of Philisophy. Stanford: The Metaphysics Re- ing of the water by the beaver informs its search Lab [online]
CRITICAL THEORY OF INFORMA- CORRELATION (S. correlación, F. corrélation, G. Korrelation) [transdisciplinary, communica- TION, COMMUNICATION, MEDIA (S. teoría crítica de la tion theory, situational theory, cognitive sci- AND TECHNOLOGY información, la comunicación, los medios y la tecnolo- ence] concept gía, F. théorie critique de l'information, communica- There is a correlation between two factors tion, media et technologie, G. Kritische Theorie der In- when the presence of one makes the presence formation, Kommunication, Medien und Technologie) of the other vary with respect to the average [transdisciplinary, critical theory, information situation. society, communication and media studies, ICT] theory We may obtain knowledge about the world in- ferring, from the occurrence of a fact (the sign), The notion of critical theory has a general and the occurrence of a different fact (the signified), a specific meaning (Maces 2001: 74f, Payne based on the existence of a correlation be- 1997: 118). Critical theory as a general term tween them. This correlation is supposed to means theories that are critical of capitalism hold given certain local conditions (Dretske’s and domination. Critical Theory as a more (1981) channel conditions). We then say that the specific term means the work of the Frankfurt occurrence of the sign carries information on School, and particularly of Theodor W. the occurrence of the signified, or that it is a Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Jürgen Habermas, signal of this occurrence. Millikan (2004) calls and Herbert Marcuse. Its starting point is the this notion of information local natural infor- work of Karl Marx (Held 1980: 15, Macey mation. 2001: 75, Payne 1997: 118, Rush 2004: 9, Wig- gershaus 1994: 5). For Horkheimer and his colleagues, critical theory “was a camouflage glossariumBITri 45 CRITICAL THEORY OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY label for ‘Marxist theory’” (Wiggershaus 1994: existing differences or claim that postmoder- 5) when they were in exile from the Nazis in nity is just a matter of perspective” (Calhoun the USA, where they were concerned about 1995: xiv, 9, 290). being exposed as communist thinkers and It is certainly true that critical theory focuses therefore took care in the categories they em- on society, wants to foster political engage- ployed. ment, and wants to show the difference be- First, there are definitions of critical theory tween potentiality and actuality in society. But that remain very vague and general. So for ex- these specifications do not suffice for speak- ample David Macey provides a definition that ing of critical theory. Further characteristics is circular, it defines critical by being critical need to be added in order to avoid for exam- without giving a further specification what it ple that theories, which argue for right-wing means to be critical. By critical theory he extremist or nationalist goals, can be consid- means “a whole range of theories which take ered as critical. a critical view of society and the human sci- Second, there are definitions that are so spe- ences or which seek to explain the emergence cific that they only consider one approach or of their objects of knowledge“ (Macey 2001: a few approaches as critical theories and ex- 74). Unspecific theories include those that do clude other approaches. So for example not define a certain normative project, but ar- Rainer Forst gives a definition of critical the- gue that critical theory is about political en- ory that is clearly focusing on a strictly Haber- gagement or showing the difference between masian project. Critical theory would explain potentiality and actuality. So for example Mi- and question factors that constrain communi- chael Payne sees political engagement as the cation: ”As normative theory, Critical Theory central characteristic of critical theory. He de- thus argues for the integrity of a sphere of fines the latter as “research projects in the so- communicative, normative integration as well cial sciences and/or humanities attempt to as for the realization of the possibility of social bring truth and political engagement into and political discourse; as social-scientific the- alignment” (Payne 1997: 118). Craig Calhoun ory, it explains the factors and structures that focuses on defining critical theory as a project impair the communicative social infrastruc- that shows the difference between potentiality ture and that hinder discourse (e.g., by the ex- and actuality and argues for potential futures: clusion of actors from political argumentation Critical social theory “exists largely to facilitate and decision making); and as participant in so- a constructive engagement with the social cial struggles, it argues for those norms and in- world that starts from the presumption that stitutions that can be defended to all those existing arrangements – including currently af- who are ‘subjects’ of these norms and institu- firmed identities and differences – do not ex- tions” (Forst 1999: 143). haust the range of possibilities. It seeks to ex- plore the ways in which our categories of Axel Honneth puts two concepts at the heart thought reduce our freedom by occluding of critical theory, disrespect and malrecogni- recognition of what could be. (…) It helps tion. He sees critical theory as an analysis of practical actors deal with social change by structures that cause disrespect and malrecog- helping them see beyond the immediacy of nition: what is at any particular moment to conceptu- Critical Theory analyzes “social relations of alize something of what could be. (…) By tak- communication (…) primarily in terms of the ing seriously the question of what it would structural forms of disrespect they generate”, mean to transcend the current epoch, critical it focuses on “the damage and distortion of theory opens more space for considering the social relations of recognition” (Honneth possibility that the world could be different than it is than does any simple affirmation of
46 glossariumBITri CRITICAL THEORY OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY
2007: 72). Honneth says that all Critical Theo- and just life. But they were aware of the many rists share the assumption that “the process of obstacles to radical change and sought to ana- social rationalization through the societal lyse and expose these. They were thus con- structure unique to capitalism has become in- cerned both with interpretation and transfor- terrupted or distorted in a way that makes pa- mation” (Held 1980: 15). thologies that accompany the loss of a rational Douglas Kellner defines critical theory as a universal unavoidable” (Honneth 2004: 349). project that confronts societal problems and So on the one hand, if one defines critical the- domination and seeks liberation from these ory in very broad sense, then the normative conditions: “Critical Theory is informed by aspect of critical theory as critique of domina- multidisciplinary research, combined with the tion becomes lost. On the other hand, if one attempt to construct a systematic, comprehen- defines critical theory in a very strict sense fo- sive social theory that can confront the key so- cusing on specific theories, scholars, or single cial and political problems of the day. The concepts, then one risks advancing a narrow- work of the Critical Theorists provides criti- minded definition that weakens the academic cisms and alternatives to traditional, or main- and political power of critical theory by isolat- stream, social theory, philosophy and science, ing approaches. together with a critique of a full range of ide- ologies from mass culture to religion. At least A third way of defining critical theory is to see some versions of Critical Theory are moti- it as analysis and questioning of domination, vated by an interest in relating theory to poli- inequality, societal problems, exploitation in tics and an interest in the emancipation of order to advance social struggles and the lib- those who are oppressed and dominated. Crit- eration from domination so that a domina- ical Theory is thus informed by a critique of tionless, co-operative, participatory society domination and a theory of liberation” can emerge. Some examples of such defini- (Kellner 1989: 1). tions can be given: Alvesson and Deetz define critical studies as Fred Rush sees critical theory as the analysis the disruption of domination that provides of domination and inequality for fostering so- impulses for liberation from it: “Critical re- cial change: “It is an account of the social search generally aims to disrupt ongoing social forces of domination that takes its theoretical reality for the sake of providing impulses to activity to be practically connected to the ob- the liberation from or resistance to what dom- ject of its study. In other words, Critical The- inates and leads to constraints in human deci- ory is not merely descriptive, it is a way to in- sion making. (…) Critique here refers to the stigate social change by providing knowledge examination of social institutions, ideologies, of the forces of social inequality that can, in discourses (ways of constructing and reason- turn, inform political action aimed at emanci- ing about the world through the use of a par- pation (or at least at diminishing domination ticular language) and forms of consciousness and inequality)” (Rush 2004: 9). in terms of representation and domination. David Held argues that the critical theorists Critique explores if and how these constrain Adorno, Habermas, Horkheimer, and Mar- human imagination, autonomy, and decision cuse have aimed at establishing a free society making. Attention is paid to asymmetrical re- and at exposing the obstacles for this develop- lations of power, taken for granted assump- ment: “Following Marx, they were preoccu- tions and beliefs. (…)” (Alvesson and Deetz pied, especially in their early work, with the 2000: 1, 8f). forces which moved (and might be guided to Karl Marx provided a definition of critique move) society towards rational institutions – that allows us to define critical theory not just institutions which would ensure a true, free as critique and analysis of capitalism, but of glossariumBITri 47 CRITICAL THEORY OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY domination in general. Critical information not have linear causes and effects, but are theory as critique of domination in the context contradictory, open, dynamic, and carry of media, culture, and communication corre- certain development potentials in them and spond perfectly to the understanding of cri- hence should be conceived in complex tique given by Marx in the Introduction to the forms; 2. Based on the insight that reality Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right in should be conceived so that there are nei- 1844: “Theory is capable of gripping the ther only opportunities nor only risks inher- masses as soon as it demonstrates ad homi- ent in social phenomena, but contradictory nem, and it demonstrates ad hominem as soon tendencies that pose both positive and neg- as it becomes radical. To be radical is to grasp ative potentials at the same time that are re- the root of the matter. But, for man, the root alized or suppressed by human social prac- is man himself. (...) The criticism of religion tice. ends with the teaching that man is the highest Dialectic analysis in this context means essence for man – hence, with the categoric complex dynamic thinking, realism an anal- imperative to overthrow all relations in which ysis of real possibilities and a dialectic of man is a debased, enslaved, abandoned, des- pessimism and optimism. In a dialectical picable essence, relations which cannot be bet- analysis, phenomena are analyzed in terms ter described than by the cry of a Frenchman of the dialectics of agency and structures, when it was planned to introduce a tax on discontinuity and continuity, the one and dogs: Poor dogs! They want to treat you as hu- the many, potentiality and actuality, global man beings!“ (MEW 1: 385). and local, virtual and real, optimism and If we conceive ontology as the philosophical pessimism, essence and existence, imma- question about being (What exists?), episte- nence and transcendence, etc. Such an anal- mology as the philosophical question about ysis assumes that the world is not as it is the cognition of being (How do we conceive presented to us, but that there is a larger es- and perceive reality?), and axiology as the phil- sence underlying existing phenomena. osophical question about human praxis as the 2) Ontology – Dynamic Materialism: Criti- consequence of the cognition of being (What cal theory is materialistic in the sense that it form of existence is desirable for humans?), addresses phenomena and problems not in then we can say that an academic field has terms of absolute ideas and predetermined three dimensions. Based on this insight and on societal development, but in terms of re- Marx’s notion of critique, we can identify source distribution and social struggles. Re- three important elements of critical theory: ality is seen in terms that address owner- 1) Epistemology – Dialectical Realism: ship, private property, resource distribu- Realism assumes that a world exists that is tion, social struggles, power, resource con- larger than the human being and its imagi- trol, exploitation, and domination. nations. The material world is seen as pri- To make a materialistic analysis also means mary and it is assumed that humans are able to conceive society as an interconnected to grasp, describe, analyze, and partly trans- whole (totality) and as negativity, to identify form this world in academic work. Analyses antagonisms means to take a look at contra- are conducted that are looking for the es- dictory tendencies that relate to one and the sence of societal existence by identifying same phenomenon, create societal prob- contradictions that lie at the heart of devel- lems and require a fundamental systemic opment. Critical theory analyzes social phe- change in order to be dissolved. To analyze nomena not based on instrumental reason society as contradictory also means to con- and one-dimensional logic, i.e. it operates: 1. With the assumption that phenomena do
48 glossariumBITri CRITICAL THEORY OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY
sider it as dynamic system because contra- private property, resource distribution, social dictions cause development and movement struggles, power, resource control, exploita- of matter. tion, and domination so that at the axiological level dominative structures are judged as being In order to address the negativity of con- undesirable and potential ways for alleviating temporary society and its potential, research suffering and establishing a co-operative, par- also needs to be oriented on the totality. ticipatory society are identified that can enter That dialectics is a philosophy of totality in as impulses into into political struggles and this context means that society is analyzed political transformations of society. on a macro-scale in order to grasp its prob- lems and that reasons for the necessity of Two central texts of Critical Theory, Hork- positive transformations are to be given. heimer’s Traditional and Critical Theory and Marcuse’s Philosophy and Critical Theory, can 3) Axiology – Negating the negative: All be interpreted for not being constitutive for critical approaches in one or the other re- Frankfurt School Critical Theory, but for crit- spect take the standpoint of oppressed or ical theory in general. In these works, Hork- exploited classes and individuals and make heiemr and Marcuse on the one hand stress the judgement that structures of oppression the limits and one-dimensionality of positiv- and exploitation benefit certain classes at ism that they consider as stabilizing forces that the expense of others and hence should be neglect potential alternatives to capitalism in radically transformed by social struggles. their analyses. On the other hand, the most This view constitutes a form of normativity. important uniting feature of the two works Critical theory does not accept existing so- that makes them grounding works for critical cial structures as they are, it is not purely fo- theory in general is the axiological questioning cused society as it is, but interested in what of domination and the focus on the necessity it could be and could become. It decon- of the establishment of a non-dominative so- structs ideologies that claim that something ciety. cannot be changed and shows potential For Horkheimer, the goal of critical theory is counter-tendencies and alternative modes the improvement of society: “In the interest of of development. That the negative antago- a rationally organized future society”, critical nisms are sublated into positive results is theory sheds “critical light on present-day so- not an automatism, but depends on the re- ciety (…) under the hope of radically improv- alization of practical forces of change that ing human existence” (Horkheimer 1937: have a potential to rise from the inside of 233). He specifies this improvement as the the systems in question in order to produce right kind of society that in negative terms is a transcendental outside that becomes a non-exploitative: “The Marxist categories of new whole. The axiological dimension of class, exploitation, surplus value, profit, pau- critique is an interface between theory and perization, and breakdown are elements in a political praxis. It is based on the categoric conceptual whole, and the meaning of this judgement that a participatory, co-operative whole is to be sought not in the preservation society is desirable. of contemporary society, but in its transfor- Critical theory is a transdisciplinary project mation into the right kind of society” (Hork- that at the epistemological level employs heimer 1937: 218). Critical theory strives for methods and theoretical categories that are “a state of affairs in which there will be no ex- employed for describing reality as dialectical ploitation or oppression” (241), a “society contradictory field that poses risks and oppor- without injustice” (221). tunities so that at the ontological level reality This emancipation in positive terms would is grasped in terms that address ownership, bring happiness and self-determination for all: glossariumBITri 49 CRITICAL THEORY OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY
“Its goal is man’s emancipation from slavery” than a manipulable subject in the production (249) and “the happiness of all individuals” process of class society” (Marcuse 1937: 152f). (248). Critical theory advances “the idea of Critical theory’s task is “to demonstrate this self-determination for the human race, that is possibility and lay the foundation for a trans- the idea of a state of affairs in which man’s ac- formation” (Marcuse 1937: 142). It wants to tions no longer flow from a mechanism but bring “to consciousness potentialities that from his own decision” (Horkheimer 1937: have emerged within the maturing historical 229). Such a society is shaped by “reasonable- situation“(Marcuse 1937: 158). ness, and striving for peace, freedom, and hap- If we assume that information, media, com- piness” (222) and the “the establishment of munication, culture, and technology play an justice among men” (243). Mankind will then important role in contemporary capitalism, become conscious of its existence: “In the then the critique of these phenomena in con- transition from the present form of society to temporary society becomes one of the tasks of a future one mankind will for the first time be a critical theory of society. A critical theory of a conscious subject and actively determine its information, communication, and media own way of life” (233). Political transfor- therefore is a sub-domain of a contemporary mation is a process of negation, the corre- critical theory of society. sponding theoretical procedure in critical the- ory is the method of negation: “The method Based on the general notion of critical theory of negation, the denunciation of everything that has already been outlined, we can from a that mutilates mankind and impedes its free praxeo-onto-epistemological perspective on development, rests on confidence in man” science (See Hofkirchner, Fuchs and Klaun- (Horkheimer 1947/1974: 126) inger 2005: 78-81) define critical studies of in- formation, communication, and media as For Marcuse, critical theory is oriented against studies that focus ontologically on the analysis the negative totality of capitalism: “Marx’s the- of information, media, communication, cul- ory is a ‘critique’ in the sense that all concepts ture, technology in the context of domination, are an indictment of the totality of the existing asymmetrical power relations, exploitation, order” (Marcuse 1941a: 258). In turning nega- oppression, and control by employing at the tivity into a potential positive result, Marcuse epistemological level all theoretical and/or (1937: 135) says that critical theory is con- empirical means that are necessary for doing cerned “with human happiness, and the con- so in order to contribute at the praxeological viction that it can be attained only through a level to the establishment of a participatory, transformation of the material conditions of co-operative society. Given such a definition, existence” is a central element of critical the- critical communication and media studies are ory. Its goals is “the creation of a social organ- inherently normative and political. ization in which individuals can collectively regulate their lives in accordance with their This definition is fairly broad and allows to needs” (Marcuse 1937: 141f), a societal condi- combine different concepts that come from tion, in which we find “the subordination of different critical backgrounds, such as for ex- the economy to the individuals’ needs“ (Mar- ample – to name just some of many – audience cuse 1937: 144). It struggles for universal free- commodity, media accumulation strategies, dom and can therefore be considered as a uni- commodity aesthetics, culture industry, true versalistic theory. It claims that “all, and not and false consciousness/needs, instrumental merely this ort hat particular person, should be reason, technological rationality, manipula- rational, free, and happy. (...) Critical theory’s tion, ideology critique, dialectical theatre, crit- interest in the liberation of mankind binds it ical pedagogy, aura, proletarian counter-public to certain ancient truths. It is at one with phi- sphere, multiple publics, emancipatory media losophy in maintaining that man can be more
50 glossariumBITri CRITICAL THEORY OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY usage, repressive media usage, alternative me- radical humanism (subjective, radical change), dia, radical media, fetish of communication, radical structuralism (objective, radical ideological state apparatuses, the multitude, change), interpretive sociology (subjective, the circulation of struggles, hegemony, struc- continuity), and functionalism (objective, con- ture of feelings, articulation, dominant read- tinuity). ing, oppositional reading, negotiated reading, capital-accumulation function of the media, commodity circulation function of the media, legitimatizing function of the media, advertis- ing- and public-relations function of the me- dia, regenerative function of the media, prop- aganda model of the media, communicative action, dialogic communication, discursive communication, communication empire, transnational informational capitalism, work- ing class culture, subculture, etc, under one united umbrella definition that sees them as differentiated unity in plurality that is termed Figure 1: Four paradigms of social theory identified by critical information, communication, and me- Burrell and Morgan (1979) dia studies. Critical studies of information, media, and The problem with this approach is that in con- communication should be embedded into a temporary social theory there are approaches broader social science perspective in order to that cross the boundaries between the four show which position they occupy in the over- fields and that the four paradigms therefore all field of the social sciences. They should can no longer be strictly separated. The dis- therefore be connected to social theory and tinction continuity/discontinuity remains social theory typologies. valid in political terms. So for example the ap- proaches by Roy Bhaskar (1993), Pierre Bour- Anthony Giddens sees the “division between dieu (1986), Anthony Giddens (1984), and objectivism and subjectivism” (Giddens 1984, Margaret Archer (1995) have in common that xx) as one of the central issues of social theory. they are based on a dialectical subject-object- Subjective approaches are oriented on human integration, but Bhaskar and Bourdieu are agents and their practices as primary object of overall critical of class society that they want analysis, objective approaches on social struc- to abolish, whereas Giddens and Archer want tures. Structures in this respect are institution- to transform modernity, but overall aim at its alized relationships that are stabilized across continuation. The approaches by Bhaskar and time and space (Giddens 1984, xxxi). Integra- Bourdieu could therefore be described as inte- tive social theories (such as the ones by Roy grative-radical change, the ones by Giddens Bhaskar (1993), Pierre Bourdieu (1986), An- and Archer as integrative-continuous. This re- thony Giddens (1984), or Margaret Archer quires certain changes to the typology of Bur- (1995)) aim at overcoming the structure- rell and Morgan that are shown in Figure 2. agency divide. Burrell and Morgan (1979) have combined the distinction between subject and object with the distinction between continuity and discon- tinuity in order two identify two axes that set up two dimensions so that four different ap- proaches can be identified in social theory: glossariumBITri 51 CRITICAL THEORY OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY
Table 1: Typology of communication theories accord- ing to Craig (1999, 2007)
Type of ap- Communication Subject/ Examples proach: theorized as: object Rhetorical The practical art Subjective Aristotle, Lloyd F. of discourse Bitzer, Kenneth Burke, Thomas B. Farrell, Sonja Foss & Cindy Griffin, Stephen W. Lit- tlejohn, Plato Semiotic Intersubjective Objective Roland Barthes, mediation by Wendy Leeds- signs Hurwitz, John Figure 2: A refined version of Burrell’s and Morgan’s Locke, Charles typology Morris, Charles Sanders Peirce, John Durham Pe- A number of communication scholars have ters, Ferdinand de stressed that it makes sense to use the typology Saussure by Burrell and Morgan for identifying differ- Phenome-nolo- Experience of ot- Subjective Martin Buber, ent approaches in communication studies and gical herness; dialogue Briankle G. Chang, communication theory (Deetz 1994, McQuail Hans-Georfg Ga- damer, Edmund 2002, Rosengren 1993, 2000). “This scheme is Husserl, Maurice equally helpful in mapping out the main alter- Merleau-Ponty, Joseph J. Pilotta & native approaches to media theory and re- Algis Mickunas, search, which have been seriously divided by John Robert Ste- their chosen methodologies and priorities, as wart well as by their degree of commitment to rad- Cybernetic Information pro- Objective Gregory Bateson, ical change” (McQuail 2002: 5). “It is highly cessing Annie Lang, Ni- klas Luhmann, relevant when trying to understand different Claude Shannon, traditions within the study of communication” Paul Watzlawick, Warren Weaver, (Rosengren 2000: 7). Norbert Wiener Robert T. Craig (1999) has identified seven Sociopsy-cholo- Expression, in- Subjective Albert Bandura, traditions of communication theory that are gical teraction, & in- Charles R. Berger fluence behav- & Richard J. Cala- based on how they communication is defined iour in communi- brese, (See table 1). Although his approach is very cation situations Carl Hovland, relevant and his paper (Craig 1999) has been Marshall Scott Poole one of the most frequently cited papers in communication studies in the past decade, he Socio- Symbolic process Objective Peter L. Berger, cultural that reproduces Deborah Cam- does not specify an underlying distinctive cri- shared sociocul- eron, Thomas terion for his typology, which gives it a rather tural patterns Luckmann, George Herbert arbitrary character. Therefore it makes sense Mead, Mark to combine his seven traditions of communi- Poster, James R. cation theory with the refined version of Bur- Taylor rell’s and Morgan’s typology. The results are Critical Discursive reflec- Subjec- Theodor W. shown in figure 3. tion tive/ Ob- Adorno, Stanley A. jective Deetz, Jürgen Ha- bermas, Max Horkheimer, Sue Curry Jansen
52 glossariumBITri CRITICAL THEORY OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY
Figure 3 shows that critical communication from material and ideological forces that pre- studies are primarily characterized by their clude and distort discursive reflection. (..) Fun- radical change perspective, i.e. the analysis of damentally, in the tradition of Marx, its point how communication contributes to domina- is not to understand the world (…) Its point is tion and how ways can be found that commu- to change the world through praxis, or theo- nication can take place in a dominationless retically reflective social action” (Craig 1999, way within a participatory society. This also 147f). Craig works out the specifics of critical means that there are subjective, objective, and studies and other traditions in communication subject-object-dialectical approaches within studies. However, I would add to Craig’s ac- critical communication studies. Craig men- count of critical communication studies that it tions several boundary-crossing approaches is not only about the analysis of those condi- that can be considered as representing at- tions that distort communication, i.e. the ways tempts at combining some of the four fields in how communication is embedded into rela- figure 3: Kennth Burke, David S. Kaufer and tions of domination, but also about finding al- Kathleen M. Carley (Rhetoric-Semiotics); Bri- ternative conditions of society and communi- ankle Chang, Richard L. Lanigan (Phenome- cation that are non-dominative and about nology-Semiotics), David S. Kaufer and Brian struggles for establishing such alternatives. S. Butler (Cybernetics-Rhetoric), Klaus Krip- Craig argues that “communication theory has pendorff (Cybernetics-Phenomenology), John not yet emerged as a coherent field study” and C. Heritage, Gerald T. Schoening and James that this fragmentation can be overcome by A. Anderson (Sociocultural Studies-Phenom- constructing “a dialogical-dialectical discipli- enology-Semiotics), W. Barnett Pearce (Soci- nary matrix” (Craig 1999, 120) that enables the ocultural Studies-Rhetoric-Cybernetics), emergence of a conversational community, “a Rayme McKerrow (Critical Studies – Rheto- common awareness of certain complementa- ric), Robert Hodge and Gunter Kress, Norb- rities and tensions among different types of ert Fairclough (Critical Studies-Semiotics). communication theory, so it is commonly un- derstood that these different types of theory cannot legitimately develop in total isolation from each other but must engage each other in argument” (Craig 1999, 124). The same can be said about critical communication studies as a subfield of communication studies: A dis- ciplinary matrix of critical communication studies can enhance the dialogue between var- ious subfields of the subfield, such as critical theory-, critical political economy-, cultural studies-, feminist theory-, postcolonial theory- , queer theory-, new social movements-ap-
proaches in critical communication studies, so : A typology of communication theories Figure 3 that common assumptions and differences For Craig, the characteristic that distinguishes about what it means to conduct critical studies critical communication studies from rhetori- of communication can emerge. cal, semiotic, phenomenological, cybernetic, Fuchs (2010) identifies different types of crit- sociopsychological, and sociocultural tradi- ical media, information, and communication tions of communication theory is that for theories (See Table 2). Those approaches that “critical communication theory, the basic see media, information, and communication ‘problem of communication’ in society arises primarily as embedded into repressive con-
glossariumBITri 53 CRITICAL THEORY OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY texts, can be considered as more structural- pothesis. Such approaches have a strong sub- istic-objectivistic approaches, they focus on jective orientation. Representatives of the re- how media structures negatively shape hu- ception hypothesis argue that reception is a mans and society. Those approaches that see complex and antagonistic process that pro- media, information, and communication pri- vides potentials for oppositional interpreta- marily as potential forms of liberation can be tions and actions. The most prominent repre- considered as more humanistic-subjectivistic sentatives of this hypothesis can be found in approaches, they focus on how media struc- cultural studies. The shortcomings of existing tures positively enable human participation critical approaches can be overcome by inte- and liberation. Integrative approaches try to grative dialectical critical media theories/stud- blur the boundaries between subjective and ies that try to bring together some or all of the objective theories. various levels of critical media studies. One can identify some existing approaches that Table 2: A typology of critical media theories point into this direction. Integration and uni- fication does not mean that difference is abol- Production Circula- Consump- Sphere tion tion ished at the expense of identity. It rather Sphere means a Hegelian dialectical sublation (Auf- Repression Commodity Hypothesis: hebung), in which old elements are preserved Hypothesis Media as commodities for and elevated to a new level. New qualities accumulating capital emerge by the interaction of the moments. Repression Manipulation- and Ideol- Hypothesis ogy Hypothesis: Such a dialectical integration is a differentiated Media as means of manip- unity that is based on the principle of unity in ulation for the ideological diversity. It is a dialectical relation of identity enforcement of class inter- ests and difference. Fuchs (2010) mentions the fol- Emancipa- Alternative Media Hy- Reception lowing example theories for integrative critical tion Hy- pothesis: Hypothesis: media theories: Robert McChesney, Stuart pothesis Media as spheres of grass- Media recep- Hall, Douglas Kellner, Shane Gunster, Vilém roots production and cir- tion as con- culation of alternative tradictory Flusser, Herbert Marcuse. These theories content process in- would bridge certain hypotheses of critical volving op- media and information studies to a greater or positional practices lesser degree, but an overall synthesis would still be missing. Unification Integrative critical media theories One of the reasons why critical theory is im- Representatives of the commodity hypothesis portant for analyzing media, technology, and argue that the media are not primarily ideolog- information is that it allows to question and ical means of manipulation, but spheres of provide alternatives to technological deter- capital accumulation. The basic contention minism and to explain the causal relationship underlying the manipulation and ideology hy- of media and technology on the one hand and pothesis is that the media are used as tools that society on the other hand in a balanced way manipulate people, advance ideologies, fore- that avoids one-dimensionality and one-sided- stall societal transformations, create false con- ness. Technological determinism (See Figure sciousness, false needs, and a one-dimensional 4) is a kind of explanation of the causal rela- universe of thought, language, and action. tionship of media/technology and society that Scholars who argue that there are alternative assumes that a certain media or technology has ways of doing and making media for critical exactly one specific effect on society and so- ends and for fostering participatory media cial systems. In case that this effect is assessed practices advance the alternative media hy- positively, we can speak of techno-optimism. In case that the effect is assessed negatively,
54 glossariumBITri CRITICAL THEORY OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY we can speak of techno-pessimism. Techno- be at least two different modern civilizations optimism and techno-pessimism are the nor- based on different paths of technical develop- mative dimensions of technological determin- ment. (…) Technologies corresponding to dif- ism. ferent civilizations this coexist uneasily within our society” (Feenberg 2002: 15). “In sum, A critical theory of media and technology is modern technology opens a space within based on dialectical reasoning. This allows to which action can be functionalized in either see the causal relationship of media/technol- one of two social systems, capitalism or social- ogy and society as multidimensional and com- ism. It is an ambivalent or ‘multistable’ system plex: A specific media/technology has multi- that can be organized around at least two he- ple, at least two, potential effects on society gemonies, two poles of power between which and social systems that can co-exist or stand in it can ‘tilt’” (Feenberg 2002: 87). “Technolog- contradiction to each other. Which potentials ical development is overdetermined by both are realized is based on how society, interests, technical and social criteria of progress, and power structures, and struggles shape the de- can therefore branch in any of several differ- sign and usage of technology in multiple ways ent directions depending on the prevailing he- that are also potentially contradictory. gemony. (…) While social institutions adapt to technological development, the process of ad- aptation is reciprocal, and technology changes in response to the conditions in which it finds itself as much as it influences them” (Feenberg 2002: 143). Feenberg says that the critical the- ory of technology is a dialectical theory of technology (Feenberg 2002: 176-183). Its goal is a transformation of technology from “reifi- cation to reintegration” (Feenberg 2002: 183). Feenberg’s critical theory questions techno- logical determinism, which he defines as “the deterministic assumption that technology has its own autonomous logic of development. Figure 4: Technological/media determinism and dia- According to this view, technology is an invar- lectic of technology/media iant element that, once introduced, bends the recipient social system to its imperatives. (…) Andrew Feenberg argues in his critical theory Determinism is based on the following two of technology that technology is an ambiva- theses: 1. The pattern of technological pro- lent process: “Critical theory argues that tech- gress is fixed, moving along one and the same nology is not a thing in the ordinary sense of track in all societies. Although political, cul- the term, but an ‘ambivalent’ process of devel- tural, and other factors may influence the pace opment suspended between different possibil- of change, they cannot alter the general line of ities. This ambivalence of technology is distin- development that reflects the autonomous guished from neutrality by the role it attributes logic of discovery. 2. Social organization must to social values in the design, and not merely adapt to technical progress at each stage of de- the use of technical systems. On this view, velopment according to ‘imperative’ require- technology is not a destiny but a scene of ments of technology. The adaptation executes struggle. It is a social battlefield, or perhaps a an underlying technical necessity. (…) Tech- better metaphor would be a ‘parliament of nology appears to be an application of the laws things’ in which civilizational alternatives con- tend. (…) Critical theory holds that there can glossariumBITri 55 CRITICAL THEORY OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY of nature to problems of production, as inde- culture of information and communication in pendent of human will as the movements of terms of interested and powerful social and the heavenly bodies” (Feenberg 2002: 138f). historical forces is evident by even a brief glance at journals in information management The dialectical critical theory of technology is or information studies or in policy papers. grounded in the works of Karl Marx, who said Coupled wit the dominant tendency of such that technology has contradictory potentials research to be ‘practical’ in the service of pro- and that under capitalism the negative ones fessional and business organizations and in the predominate: “The contradictions and antag- service of military and industrial research pro- onisms inseparable from the capitalist applica- jects, research in information simply shies tion of machinery do not exist, they say, be- away from critical engagement, as well as from cause they do not arise out of machinery as foundational, qualitative, or materialist anal- such, but out of its capitalist applications! yses, especially from that which is seen to em- Therefore, since machinery in itself shortens ploy ‘pretentious’, ‘political’, or, equally, ‘for- the hours of labour, but when employed by eign’ vocabulary, let alone philosophical or capital it lengthens them; since in itself light- Marxist analyses” (Day 2001: 116f). Day un- ens labour, but when employed by capital it derstands critical theory in a very general sense heightens its intensity; since in itself it is a vic- as “the deployment of concepts in critical and tory of man over the forces of nature but in interruptive relation to the conceptual founda- the hands of capital it makes man the slave of tions of commonly accepted practices” (Day those forces; since in itself it increases the 2001: 116). The problem with such a contex- wealth of the bourgeois economist simply tual definition of critical theory is that it is states that the contemplation of machinery in purely contextual: In case that socialism be- itself demonstrates with exactitude that all comes a commonly accepted practice, right these evident contradictions are a mere sem- wing extremist theory then becomes a “criti- blance, present in everyday reality, but not ex- cal” theory. Therefore additional qualities for isting in themselves, and therefore having no defining critical theory are needed. A critical theoretical existence either. Thus her manages theory of information for day examines infor- to avoid racking his brains any more, and in mation’s “institutional, political, and social” addition implies that his opponent is guilty of context and its “reflexive relationships to ma- the stupidity of contending, not against the terial forces and productions” (Day 2001: capitalist application of machinery, but against 118). Day (2007) argues that Rob Kling on the machinery itself” (Marx 1867: 568f). Also Her- one hand has defined Social Informatics as bert Marcuse is a representative of a dialectical empirical research, which brings forward pos- critical theory of technology that identifies itivistic associations, but that on the other contradictory potentials of technology: “Tech- hand he tried to deconstruct technological de- nics by itself can promote authoritarianism as terminism as ideology. Social informatics well as liberty, scarcity as well as abundance, would therefore be “’critical’ of the ‘uncritical’ the extension as well as the abolition of toil” discourses about the social values and uses of (Marcuse 1941: 41). computers/IT/ICTs” (Day 2007: 578). He In recent years, the possibility of combining concludes that “the heart of Kling’s concep- critical theory and information science has tion of social informatics was a critical infor- been stressed (Day 2001, 2005, 2007, Fuchs matics, and that the cornerstone for critical in- 2008b). Ronald E. Day argues that infor- formatics were approaches that remained a mation science has treated information mainly minority in Kling’s overall work” (Day 2007: as a “reified and commoditized notion” (Day 582). 2001: 120). “The unwillingness of research on information to actually attempt to situate a
56 glossariumBITri CRITICAL THEORY OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY
Ajit K. Pyati (2006) suggests that critical infor- 2008a, 2009) and a critical theory of infor- mation studies should be based on a Marcu- mation (2009a). An objectivist notion of infor- sean infusion because his notion of technolog- mation is for Fuchs an ideology that drives the ical rationality allows explaining why infor- commodification of information. If infor- mation is primarily treated as a commodity mation is seen as a thing, then it is obvious to and thing in contemporary society and con- argue that it should be treated as a commodity. temporary library and information studies. But also subjectivistic notions of information Marcuse’s notion of one-dimensionality are ideologies for Fuchs: If knowledge is con- would allow deconstructing the neoliberal dis- sidered as individual creation, then the call for course that argues for the privatization and intellectual property rights that make sure that commodification of information and libraries knowledge is treated as commodity that is sold as ideologies. “An information society that is on markets in order to generate money profit, associated with techno-capitalism, neo-liberal- can easily be legitimated. In the end, subjectiv- ism, and ideologies of deregulation can ulti- ist notions of information turn out to be ideo- mately undermine the basis of the public ser- logies that legitimate private property and the vice mission of libraries. In a certain sense, li- commodity form of information. The alterna- braries with public service mandates (particu- tive is to consider information as a dialectical larly public and certain academic libraries) act process that establishes an interconnection of in some degree as ‘anti-capitalist spaces’ and subjects and objects via a threefold process of have the potential to reframe an information cognition, communication, and co-operation. society in a more radically democratic, cultur- References ally inclusive, and progressive vision. (…) The discourse of ICTs does not have to necessarily ― ALVESSON, Mats and Stanley Deetz. (2000). Doing be part of a free market, capitalist ideology, critical management research. London: SAGE. ― ARCHER, Margaret S. (1995). Realist social theory: the but can serve more radical democratic aims, morphogenetic approach. Cambridge: Cambridge Uni- particularly in democratizing access to infor- versity Press. mation and knowledge. Libraries, in becoming ― BHASKAR, Roy. (1993). Dialectic. The pulse of freedom. active developers and shapers of ICTs for London: Verso. ― BOURDIEU, Pierre. (1986). Distinction: A social democratic and progressive ends, may help to critique of the judgement of taste. New York: combat some of the hegemony of the domi- Routledge. nant information society” (Pyati 2006: 88). ― BURRELL, Gibson and GARETH Morgan. (1979).Sociological paradigms and organizational analy- Christian Fuchs (2008a, b, 2009) has argued sis.Aldershot: Gower. that critical information studies should best be ― CALHOUN, Craig. (1995). Critical social theory. conceived within the framework of Marxian Malden, MA: Blackwell. theory (i.e. the critique of the political econ- ― CRAIG, Robert T. (1999). Communication theory as a field. Communicaiton Theory 9 (2): 119-161. omy, cp. also the “Cyber-Marx” approach by ― CRAIG, Robert T., ed. (2007). Theorizing commu- Nick Dyer-Witheford 1999) and a broad no- nication. Readings across traditions. London: tion of a critical theory of media, information, SAGE. communication, technology, and culture. The ― DAY, Ronald E. (2001). The modern invention of infor- mation: Discourse, history, and power. Carbondale, IL: task is to analyse domination and capitalism as Southern Illinois University Press. the context of information and media in con- ― DAY, Ronald E. (2005). “We must now all be infor- temporary society and to give intellectual im- mation professionals”: An interview with Ron Day. pulses for finding alternative modes of infor- Interactions 1 (2): Article 10. mation and media that work outside of capi- ― DAY, Ronald E. (2007). Kling and the ‘Critical’: So- cial Informatics and Critical Informatics. Journal of talism and domination. Fuchs suggests that the American Society for Information Science and Technology this approach allows constructing a critical 58 (4): 575-582. theory of Internet/ICTs and society (Fuchs
glossariumBITri 57 CYBERNETICS
― DEETZ, Stanley. (1994). Future of the discipline: ― MARCUSE, Herbert. (1937). Philosopy and critical The challenges, the research, and the social contri- theory. In Negations: Essays in critical theory, 134-158. bution. Communication Yearbook 17: 565-600. London: Free Association Books. ― FEENBERG, Andrew. (2002). Transforming technol- ― MARCUSE, Herbert. (1941a). Reason and revolu- ogy: A critical theory revisited. Oxford: Oxford Univer- tion. Hegel and the rise of social theory. New York: sity Press. Humanity Books. ― FORST, Rainer. (1999). Justice, reason, and critique: ― MARCUSE, Herbert. (1941b). Some social implica- Basic concepts of critical theory. In The Handbook of tions of modern technology. In Collected papers of Her- Critical Theory, ed. David M. Rasmussen, 336-360. bert Marcuse, Volume One: Technology, war and fascism, Malden, MA: Blackwell. 41-65. New York: Routledge. ― FUCHS, Christian. (2008a). Internet and society: So- ― MARX, Karl. (1867). Capital Volume I. London: Pen- cial theory in the information age. New York: guin. Routledge. ― MARX, Karl and Friedrich Engels (MEW) Werke. ― FUCHS, Christian. (2008b). Towards a critical the- Berlin: Dietz. ory of information. In Qué es Información? (What is In- ― PYATI, Ajit K. (2006). Critical theory and infor- formation?) Proceedings of the First International Meeting of mation studies: A Marcusean infusion. Policy Futures Experts in Information Theories. An Interdisciplinary Ap- in Education 4 (1): 83-89. proach, November 6-7, 2008, ed. José María Díaz ― ROSENGREN, Karl Erik. (1993). From field to Nafria and Francisco Salto Alemany, 247-316. León: frog ponds. Journal of Communication 43 (3): 6-17. Universidad de León. ― ROSENGREN, Karl Erik. (2000). Communication: ― FUCHS, Christian. (2009). Information and com- An introduction. London: Sage. munication technologies & society: A contribution ― RUSH, Fred. (2004). Conceptual foundations of to the critique of the political economy of the Inter- early Critical Theory. In The Cambridge Companion to net. European Journal of Communication 24 (1): 69-87. Critical Theory, 6-39. Cambridge: Cambridge Univer- ― FUCHS, Christian. (2010). A contribution to theo- sity Press. retical foundations of critical media and communi- ― WIGGERSHAUS, Rolf. (1994). The Frankfurt cation studies. Javnost – The Public(Accepted paper, school: Its history, theories and political signifi- publication forthcoming). cance. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ― HELD, David. (1980). Introduction to critical theory. ― WITHEFORD, Nick-Dyer. (1999). Cyber-Marx. Cy- Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. cles and circuits of struggle in high-technology capitalism. ― HOFKIRCHNER, Wolfgang, Christian FUCHS Champaign,IL: University of Illinois Press. and Bert KLAUNINGER. (2005). Informational universe. A praxeo-onto-epistemological approach. (CF) In Human approaches to the universe, ed. Eeva Mar- tikainen, 75-94. Helsinki: Luther-Agricola-Seura. ― HONNETH, Axel. (2004). The intellectual legacy of CYBERNETICS (S. cibernética, F. cybernétique, Critical Theory. In The Cambridge Companion to Critical G. Kybernetik) [Interdisciplinary] discipline Theory, 6-39. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. "Cybernetics" stems from the Greek Word ― HONNETH, Axel. (2007). Disrespect: The norma- Κυβερνήτης, meaning the art of steering a tive foundations of critical theory. Cambridge: Pol- ship, used by Plato in the sense of guiding or ity. governing men. Nowadays, it refers to the ― HORKHEIMER, Max. (1937). Traditional and criti- cal theory. In Critical theory, 188-252. New York: study of the control and communication of Continuum. complex systems, whether they are living or- ― HORKHEIMER, Max. (1947/1974). Eclipse of rea- ganisms, machines or organisations, paying son. New York: Continuum. special attention to the →feedback as the main ― KELLNER, Douglas. (1989). Critical theory, Marxism and modernity. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University way of regulation. It is usually considered that Press. cybernetics has been properly formulated in ― MACEY, David. (2001). The Penguin Dictionary of Norbert Wiener's work of 1948 ("Cybernetics, Critical Theory. London: Penguin. or control and communication in the animal ― PAYNE, Michael, ed. (1997). A dictionary of cul- and machine"). According to Wiener, cyber- tural and critical theory. Malden, MA: Blackwell. ― MCQUAIL, Denis. (2002). Origins and develop- netics is a science devoted to the study of con- ment of the field of study. In McQuail’s Reader in trol systems, especially, self-control systems, Mass Communication Theory, ed. Denis McQuail, 1-19. whether in living organisms or machines, in London: Sage which this “control is the sending of messages
58 glossariumBITri CYBERNETICS that truly change the behaviour of the receiv- configuration and information become so im- ing system”. Both in its genesis in the 1940s portant as matter and energy were at the be- (with contributions coming from evolutionary ginning of this century". biology -von Uexküll-, psychology -Anokhin-, Von Foerster believed that cybernetics should systems control -Wiener-, neurophysiology - overcome this epistemological anachronism, McCulloh and Rosenblueth-, psychiatry - so that the observer would be part of the sys- Ashby…– as in its last development, cybernet- tem, asserting his own goals and his own role ics has constitute an eminently interdiscipli- within the system. Since then, there is a clear nary discipline. distinction between traditional cybernetics (or For the epistemologist, anthropologist, and cybernetics of the first order) and cybernetics cybernetician Gregory Bateson, "cybernetics of the second order, also named complexity is a branch of mathematics dealing with prob- theory. Whereas cybernetics of the fist order lems of control, recursiveness and infor- can be formulated through the question: mation". He also considered it "the biggest "What and how are the mechanisms of feed- bite out of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge back of the studied system?", cybernetics of that mankind has taken in the last 2000 years" the second order entails the question: "How (Bateson 1972). For Stafford Beer, considered are we able to control, maintain and generate father of management cybernetics, it is “the this system through feedback?" science of effective organisation”. Hence, second order cybernetics is posed as First order or classical ~ and second order an implicit theory of observation with the ~ (S. de primer y segundo orden, F. de premier et range of an epistemology. The step from first deuxième ordre, G. erster und zweiter Ordnung). In order to second order cibernetics is in a sense 1958, Heinz von Foerster conducted a critical the step from observing systems to observing review of Wiener's cybernetic theory, observ- observing systems (or systems with observ- ing that though this theory was introducing ers). In the words of Pakman (Cit. in Von significant changes with respect to previous Foerster, 1991:3): "From the very moment in conceptions of regulation and control, it did which we quit considering the concepts we use not involve an epistemological break with the are properties of the systems, then we observe traditional conception of science, because the and start conceiving them as an emerging model, in which the observer watch the object product of the interaction between us and the or the system from outside without causing an observed systems (...) we move from ontology influence on the observee and attaining an ob- to epistemology, from observed systems to jective study of it, continued to be applied. In our knowledge about them". the wors of Watzlawick, Beavin and Jackson References (1981:33): "Feedback systems are not only dif- ferent in a quantitatively higher dregree of ― BATESON, G. (1972). Steps to an ecology of mind. New complexity, but also qualitatively different York: Ballantine Books. ― FOERSTER, H. von (1981). Observing systems, Sea- from everything included within the field of side. California: Intersystems Publications. classic mechanics. Their study demands new ― FOERSTER, H. von (1991). Las semillas de la ciberné- conceptual frameworks: their logics and epis- tica. Barcelona: Gedisa. temology are discontinuous with regard to cer- ― WATZLAWICK, P., BEAVIN BAVELAS, J., y JACKSON, D. (1989). Teoría de la comunicación hu- tain traditional principles in scientific analysis, mana. Interacciones, patologías y paradojas. Barcelona: such as 'isolating single variables' or Laplace's Herder. criteria of given a complete knowledge of all ― WIENER, N. (1954). The human use of human beings: facts in a specific moment all future states can Cybernetics and Society. Nueva York: Avon. be predicted. Feedback systems require their ― WIENER, N. (1975). Cybernetics: or the control and com- munication in the animal and the machine. Cambridge: own philosophy, in which the concepts like MIT Press. glossariumBITri 59 CYBERNETICS
(JMA –ed.- ; JMD, JMA) But these approaches have still not satisfacto- rily led to an understanding of why and how certain →systems have the ability to produce CYBERSEMIOTICS (S. cibersemiótica, F. sense experiences, awareness and meaningful cyber-sémiotique, G Kyber-Semiotik) communication. The theories of the phenom- [transdisciplinary, semiotics, cybernetics] theory enological life world and the →hermeneutics of Contents.— 1) Observers within their universe, 2) Cy- →communication and understanding seem to bersemiotics: a crossroad among four knowledge traditions, defy classical scientific explanations. The hu- 3) Peirce triadic semiotic process on-tology as a new view of manities therefore send another insight the reality, 4) Cybersemiotics as an integrative transdiscipline, opposite way down the evolutionary ladder, 5) Cybersemiotics vs information the-orists and info-compu- tationalism. with questions like: What is the role of con- sciousness, →signs and meaning in evolution? Cybersemiotics is the attempt to provide a These are matters that the exact sciences are transdisciplinary framework for the scholarly not constructed to answer in their present work on information, cognition and commu- state. Phenomenology and hermeneutics point nication coming from the natural, technical out to the sciences that the type of objective and social sciences as well as the humanities. knowledge they produce have prerequisite It builds on two already generated interdisci- conditions in embodied living conscious be- plinary approaches: On the one hand cyber- ings imbued with meaningful language and a netics and systems theory including infor- culture. One can see the world view that mation theory and science, and on the other emerges from the work of the sciences as a re- Peircean semiotics including phenomenology construction back into time from our present and pragmatic aspects of linguistics. Cyberse- ecological and evolutionary self-understand- miotics attempts to make the two interdiscipli- ing as semiotic intersubjective conscious cul- nary paradigms – both going beyond mecha- tural, historical creatures, but unable to handle nistic and pure constructivistic ideas - comple- the aspects of meaning and conscious aware- ment each other in a common framework. ness. How can we integrate these two direc- 1. Observers within their universe. We need tions of explanatory efforts? to realize that a paradigm based on the view of 2. Cybersemiotics: a crossroad among four the universe that makes irreversible time and knowledge traditions. What makes Cyberse- evolution fundamental, forces us to view man miotics different from other approaches at- as a product of evolution and therefore an ob- tempting to produce a transdisciplinary theory server from inside the universe. This changes of information, cognition and communication the way we conceptualize the problem and is its absolute naturalism, which forces us to role of consciousness in nature compared to view life, consciousness as well as cultural what Descartes did with his dualistic para- meaning as a part of nature and evolution. It digm. The theory of evolution forces us theo- thus wants to combine a number of different retically to conceive the natural and social sci- platforms from which attempts to make uni- ences as well as the humanities together in one versal theories of perception, cognition, con- framework of unrestricted or absolute natural- sciousness and communication have been ism, where consciousness is part of nature. made, by relativizing each of them as only a This has influenced the exact sciences to pro- partial view: 1. The physico-chemical scientific duce theories of information and self-organi- paradigm based on third person objective em- zation in order to explain the origin of life and pirical knowledge and mathematical theory, sense experiences, encouraged biological but with no conceptions of experiental life, thinking to go into psychology and social sci- meaning and first person embodied con- ence in the form of theories of selfish genes, sciousness and therefore meaningful linguistic socio-biology and evolutionary psychology. intersubjectivity; 2. The biological and natural
60 glossariumBITri CYBERNETICS historical science approach understood as the usually explained as originating in energy and matter, liv- combination of genetic evolutionary theory ing systems as emerging from the development of life processes (for instance, the first cell). Social culture is ex- with an ecological and thermodynamic view plained as founded on the development of meaning in based on the evolution of experiental living language and practical habits, and finally our inner men- systems as the ground fact and engaged in a tal world is explained as deriving from the development search for empirical truth, yet doing so with- of our individual life world and consciousness. But all these types of knowledge have their origin in our primary out a theory of meaning and first person em- semiotic life-world and the common sense we develop bodied consciousness and thereby linguistic here through our cultural history (horizon). In the course meaningful intersubjectivity; 3. The linguistic- of this development the results of the natural and social cultural-social structuralist constructivism that sciences as well as humanities feed into our common sees all knowledge as constructions of mean- sense horizon and expands it. ing produced by the intersubjective web of 3. Peirce triadic semiotic process ontology language, cultural mentality and power, but as a new view of reality. Peirce’s evolution- with no concept of empirical truth, life, evolu- ary metaphysics has a phenomenological point tion, ecology and a very weak concept of sub- of departure, but he frames the task differently jective embodied first person consciousness from Husserl as well as from Hegel. Thus, it is even while taking conscious intersubjective most relevant to hold on to the name Peirce communication and →knowledge processes as invented for his own stance: phaneroscopy. the basic fact to study (the linguistic turn); 4. To me, there is a basic problem in modern Eu- Any approach which takes the qualitative dis- ropean phenomenology from Husserl and on- tinction between subject and object as the ward, viz. that when we talk about phenome- ground fact on which all meaningful nology, we cannot get to the world of the oth- knowledge is based and considering all results ers and to the world of objects as they hardly of the sciences, including linguistics and em- have any existence outside our own con- bodiment of consciousness, as secondary sciousness. This is because it deals with a cer- knowledge, as opposed to a phenomenologi- tain view of the pre-linguistic consciousness cal (Husserl) or actually phaneroscopic before any distinction between object and (Peirce) first person point of view considering subject. Peirce, however, tries to solve this conscious meaningful experiences in advance problem by introducing his three basic catego- of the subject/object distinction. ries of Firstness, Secondness and Thirdness and connecting them to the sign process, thus making a common foundation for cognition and communication that makes his theory in- tersubjective at the basis. First person experi- ence then does not come from a transcenden- tal subject, but from ’pure feeling’, or First- ness. Thus, Firstness must be the unanalyza- ble, inexplicable, unintellectual basis which runs in a continuous stream through our lives and therefore is the sum total of conscious- ness. Thus, possibility is a good word for First- ness. Existence is an abstract possibility (First- ness) which is no-thing. Peirce equates being with Firstness, as is clear from these two tri- chotomies: (1) being, (2) actuality, (3) reality; and (1) possibility, (2) actuality, (3) necessity. Figure 1. The Semiotic Star: A model of how the com- Here it is important to understand that the cat- municative social system of the embodied →mind pro- duces four main areas of knowledge. Physical nature is glossariumBITri 61 CYBERNETICS egories are inclusive: you cannot have Second- and qualia as Firstness. The integrative trans- ness without Firstness or Thirdness without disciplinary synthesis of Cybersemiotics starts Secondness. by accepting two major, but not fully explana- tory, and very different transdisciplinary para- Peirce is referring to Hegel’s dynamical dialec- digms: 1. the second order →cybernetics and au- tical thinking as a contrast to Aristotle. Where topoietic approach united in Luhmann’s triple Aristotle's logic is concerned with separate, autopoietic system theory of social communi- discrete phenomena in a deductive pattern, cation; 2. the Peircean phaneroscopic, triadic, Hegel in his phenomenology dissolves this pragmaticistic, evolutionary, semiotic ap- classical static view into a dynamic movement. proach to meaning which has led to modern This is caused by oppositions between the biosemiotics, based in a phenomenological inter- structural elements that - through their fight subjective world of partly self-organizing tri- with each other - develop towards a new adic sign processes in an experiential meaning- whole, which is usually the whole we have ful world. The two are integrated by inserting now. It is viewed as preserving the former el- the modern development of information the- ements (→contradiction) but now united into a ory and self-organizing, emergent chemico-bi- new higher synthesis. This dialectics is a much ological phenomena as an aspect of a general more organic way of thinking than the more semiotic evolution in the Peircean framework. mechanical classical logic. Hegel’s term for This creates the Cybersemiotic framework this overcoming of contradiction at a new where evolutionary experiential and intersub- level, which at the same time preserves the jective sign processes become the ground re- contradiction on a lower one, is Aufhebung. ality on which our conceptions of ourselves, The concept is sometimes translated as "sub- action, meaning and the word are built. None lation”. of the results from exact science, biology, hu- There is a lot of Thirdness in Hegel’s phenom- manities or social sciences are considered enology as well as an intuitive apprehension of more fundamental than the others. They con- the total picture, or Firstness. What is missing tribute on an equal footing to our intersubjec- - from a Peircean point of view - is then that tive, semiotic process of knowing ourselves healthy sense of reality that Secondness pro- and the world. vides. It is the brute facts on which everyday Thus, all four approaches: physics, biology, consciousness and self-conscious experience phenomenology (awareness and intentional- confronts in that it does not flawlessly con- ity), and sociology/linguistics are all equally form to our expectations. The resting of real- important and therefore have to be united into ity in Peirce’s analysis. We have to reflect on a transdisciplinary theory of information, se- what the brute facts say about Thirdness and miotics, first person consciousness and inter- this is the road to science. Thus Hegel does subjective socio-cultural communication. The not – in Peirce’s view – see that the difference Cybersemiotic Star model illustrates this, between Firstness, Secondness and Thirdness while at the same time pointing to the fact that is foundational and that there is no way in the discussion about transdisciplinary which one of them can be turned into one of knowledge is conducted in a linguistic dis- the others, nor does he realize that they cannot course with other embodied and linguistically- melt together into one whole. informed consciousnesses in both a natural 4. Cybersemiotics as an integrative trans- and cultural Umwelt. discipline. The phaneroscopic semiotics in- Looking at The Cybersemiotic Star we see that cludes an intersubjective base as Peirce con- there are four forms of historical explanations siders all knowledge to be intersubjectively going on: 1. the cosmological, 2. the biological, produced through signs and view emotions
62 glossariumBITri CYBERNETICS
3. the historical, and 4. the personal life his- information. In order for anything to exist for tory. The natural sciences work towards mak- an individual, she must get information on it ing one grand historical explanation; but so by means of perception or by re-organization far, we have not cracked the problem of the of the existing information into new patterns. emergence of life and consciousness in evolu- This cybernetic-computational-informational tion, I have argued here. Thus we might have view is based on a universal and un-embodied to accept that an all-encompassing explana- conception of information and computation, tion of the conscious meaningful human com- which is the deep foundation of “the infor- munication process cannot be provided from mation processing paradigm” (s. →General any of the corners of the model alone. We can- Theory of Information, →Info-computational- not so far reduce our scientific explanations to ism). This paradigm is vital for most versions one grand story, but, instead, have to juggle of cognitive science and its latest develop- with all four at the same time, as long as they ments into brain function and linguistic re- have the present paradigmatic foundations. search. Taken to its full metaphysical scope this paradigm views the universe as a com- Each of the four corners of the star represents puter, humans as dynamic systems producing different kinds of epistemologies. In science and being guided by computational function- we have – as prerequisite outside the theory – ing. Language is seen as a sort of culturally de- several living, embodied conscious subjects veloped algorithmic program for social infor- linked by knowledge sharing in language con- mation processing. fronting one or more objects. The first person living consciousnesses of the subject(s) as ob- What seems to be lacking is knowledge of the servers are considered to be outside the world nature and role of embodied first person ex- they observe. In the biological sciences the ob- perience, qualia, meaning and signification in servers share the life experience with their ob- the evolution and development of cognition jects that are also living and therefore experi- and language communication among self-con- encing. It is sadly often forgotten in molecular scious social beings and formed by the gram- definitions of life that it is a basic and common matical structure and dynamics of language trait of all life that it senses and experiences, a and mentality. From a general epistemological fact not easily explainable from a molecular as well as philosophy of science foundation, it level. We can kill the life we investigate to find is argued that a transdisciplinary paradigm of out the molecular structure, but then we are information, cognition and communication returned to physico-chemical approaches as science needs, within its theory, to engage the the life and the agency of the living is gone. role of first person conscious, embodied social But when studying living beings in the state of awareness in producing signification from per- being alive, sensing their surroundings and cepts and meaning from communication in creating their own Umwelt, we are in a quali- any attempt to build a transdisciplinary theo- tatively new situation, as we have to accept retical framework for information, cognition, that the living systems experience the environ- signification and meaningful communication. ment in a specific manner, which will most of- It has to embrace what Peirce calls cenoscopic ten be partly different from ours. Thus we are science or, to use a modern phrase, intentional in a second order situation of observing. sciences. If it does not do so, but bases itself on physicalism, including physicalistic forms 5. Cybersemiotics vs information theorists of informationalism such as →info-computation- and info-computationalism. A common alist naturalism, it is going to be difficult to view among information theorists is that in- make any real progress in the understanding of formation integrated with entropy in some the relation between humans, nature, compu- way is a basic structure of the World. Compu- tation is the process of the dynamic change of glossariumBITri 63 CYBERNETICS tation and cultural meaning through an inte- Living Systems: Gregory Bateson as Precursor to Biosemiot- grated information, cognition and communi- ics; Hoffmeyer, J. (Ed.), London, UK: Springer Ver- lag, Chapter 12, pp. 229-255. cation science. ― BRIER, S. (2009a). "The Conflict between Indian Vedic Mentality and Western Modernity", Durst- 6. Cybersemiotics groundings Andersen and Lange, E.E. (Ed.)(2010). Mentality and A theory of signification and how meaning is Thought: North, South, East and West, Copenhagen: produced through signs is needed to connect Copenhagen Business School Press, pp. 53-86. ― BRIER, S. (2009b). “Cybersemiotic Pragmaticism human consciousness with a theory of nature and Constructivism”, Constructivist Foundations Vol. 5, and information. For this we need to enlarge No. 1, pp. 19-38. the picture by superimposing and integrating ― BRIER, S. (2009c). “Levels of Cybersemiotics: Pos- an even broader foundation such as Charles sible Ontologies of signification”, Cognitive Semiotics, Issue 4 (Spring 2009), pp. 28-62. Sanders Peirce’s pragmaticistic semiotics in its ― BRIER, S. (2010a). “Cybersemiotics: Entropic infor- modern development as biosemiotics. The mation, evolution and meaning: A World View be- first ground work to explain why and how yond Entropy and Information”, Entropy (An elec- such a combinatory framework of semiotics tronic journal), 12(8), 1902-1920; Lead article for and cybernetics makes it possible to make an special issue on Cybersemiotics that author was of- fered to edit. Last paper published 7.th Oct. 2010. evolutionary based transdisciplinary theory of ― BRIER, S. (2010b). “Cybernetics” in Clarke, B. and information, cognition, consciousness, mean- Rosini, M. (Ed.)(2010): The Routledge Companion to ing and communication can be found in Brier Literature and Science, London and New (2008a) and in the subsequent papers written York:Routledge/Taylor and Francis Group, pp. 89- 99. after the book manuscript was finished (Brier ― BRIER, S. (2011a). "Cybersemiotics and the ques- 2007, 2008b, ff). tion of knowledge" Chapter 1 in Dodig-Crnkovic, G.and Burgin, M. (Ed.) (2011). Information and Com- References putation, World Scientific Publishing Co. ― BRIER, S. (2007). Applying Luhmann’s system the- ― BRIER, S. (2011b). “Meaning and Science: Konrad ory as part of a transdisciplinary frame for commu- Lorenz, Thomas Sebeok and beyond”, in Deely, nication science. Cybe. Huma. Know., Num. 14, 29-65. John, Kull, Kalevi and Petrilli, Susan (eds.), Semiotics ― BRIER, S. (2008a) Cybersemiotics: Why Information is Continues to Astonish: the Intellectual Heritage of Thomas not Enough! Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Albert Sebeok, Peer reviewed and accepted, Paris and Press. Den Haag: Mouton, de Gruyter. ― Brier, S. (2008b). The Peircean paradigm for biose- ― BURGIN, M. (2010). Theory of Information: Funda- miotics. Signs 2008, pp. 30-81. mentality, Diversity and Unification. Singapore: ― BRIER, S. (2008c). Bateson and Peirce on the pat- World Scientific Publishing. tern that connects and the sacred. In A Legacy for (SB)
64 glossariumBITri D
DATA (S. dato, F. donnée, G. DatenPL, Angabe) that appear in the sky just before the storm is [transdisciplinary, information science, an example of natural or non-conventional computation science, communication theory, data. Thirdly, the same data can inform an epistemology] concept agent or not, as we see below, depending on the stock prior to the staff. Fifthly, within an Contents.— 1) Data at organizational context, 2) Flo- ridi's Model (a. Diaphoric definition of data, b. Types of organization, data are usually of conventional data) type and they often appear as a collection of materialized alphanumeric characters on a Intuitively, we can identify the data as physical document (either physical or electronic). And events (small parts (or pieces) of reality) able finally, in the same context, in the organiza- to carry certain associated information. They tions, the indiscriminate accumulation of data have a material nature and can be considered does not always necessarily improve decision as the physical support to information. In making. other words, they are physical facts that do no have any inherent meaning, do not necessarily We can justify this way of defining the concept present any interpretations or opinions, and of data by reviewing how the same concept is do not carry indicative characteristics that may understood in other contexts. For example, reveal their importance or relevance. In this our characterization reflects the sense that no sense, each of the statements printed in this tension is given to the concept of data in the article can be considered as data. The custom- disciplines of information technology and tel- er's name, the amount of the purchase or bank ecommunications: a set of associated charac- transaction number that appears on an invoice ters of a concept. The character set can be considered as the typical examples of "35,879,987" about the concept number of na- data within the context of the companies. tional identification (ID) could be an example. In an effort to systematize, we can offer the In the same vein, our proposal fits well with proposal from the following definition: the use of the word "data" when defining cer- tain informatic applications. A database man- Data = physical support of information. agement system (SGBDD), without going any 1. Data at organizacional context. It is im- further, usually is defined as a resource that portant to show some characteristics of the enables the management of records from the data from these viewpoints. Firstly, the ques- data or sets of characters appearing in the rec- tion of being some physical events, the data ords (numbers, words, numbers, etc..) That is are easy to capture, structure, quantify or to say, one can defend the idea that manage- transfer. Secondly, a datum, depending on the ment of the records of these tools is a man- encryption key in which it is involved (as dis- agement of syntactical type (apart from char- cussed below), it can be conventional or natu- acter sets that appear in the records) but not a ral (not conventional).The account number on semantic one (apart from the information the back of a credit card is an example of a content associated with these sets of charac- conventional type of data. Looking at clouds glossariumBITri 65 DATA ters). A SGBDD, facing a search equation, re- Consequently, they are purely relational enti- trieves the records where the data appear to ties. make the equation. In the same way, a Data According to the typological neutrality, the infor- Mining or Text Mining system, among other mation may consist of different data types as things, permits to detect correlations or pat- related: →primary, secondary, metadata, oper- terns among data (or sets of characters) that ational or derivative (see below, §2.b). appear in the records which shap the system so that later in an intellectual manner someone According to the ontological neutrality, in combi- can decide whether this pattern is consistent nation with the rejection of information with- or not with a genuine correlation semantics. out data -as stated by General Definition of Information the author proposes-, there can 2. Floridi's Model. neither be "without data representation". a) Diaphoric definition of data (DDD). According Therefore, at the same time, this may imply to the diafora definition of Floridi (from the different levels of ontological neutrality: 1) Greek διαφορά, →difference, discrepancy) "a there can be no information without physical datum is a putative fact regarding some differ- implementation (regardless of its nature), 2) ence or lack of uniformity within some con- every elements in the physical world "derives text." its function, its meaning, its very existence from the appartus-elicited answer to yes-or-no According to the author, this definition can be questions, binary choices, bits" (i.e., what we applied at three levels: 1) Diaphora de re: as a call reality derives from a theoretical-interrog- lack of uniformity in the outside world, i.e. ative analysis), 3) information is nothing but pure data, before any epistemological interpre- an "exchange with the outer world as we ad- tation (similar to Euclid's "dedomena"). 2) Di- just to it, and make our adjustment felt upon aphora de signo: between at least two physical it" (Wiener, 1954). 4) "information is a differ- states. 3) Diaphora de dicto: between two sym- ence that makes a difference". So the meaning bols. becomes a potential basis accoding to its self- Due to the stance concerning the ontological generating ability. neutrality and the nature of environmental in- According to the genetic neutrality, semantics formation, (1) can be identical to (2), or make can be independent of the informee, thus possible the signs in (2), while those signs are meaning does not have to be in the mind of necessary conditions for encoding the sym- the user; which is not the same as the realist bols in (3). thesis, stating that the meaning would even be This definition has the advantage of leaving independent of the producer or informer. This the data free from its support and considers latter assumption is made when "environmen- four types of independence or neutrality: tax- tal information" is considered. onomy (with regard to the classification of the b) Types of data. Data can be of different types relata), typological (with regard to the logical supported by the diaphoric definition: type); ontological (with regard to the nature of the inequality support), genetic (regarding to Primary ~: those that are explicitly related to the semantics of the informee). what is in question (eg. the response of an in- formation system to the query of a user). In turn, these four types of neutrality have im- portant implications regarding the nature of Secondary ~: equivalent to the absence of information and data: certain primary data (eg. administrative silence in front of a determined petition o request). According to the taxonomic neutrality, there is nothing that can characterize a datum per se. Operational ~: those data relating to the op- erations and the overall system information
66 glossariumBITri DIALOGIC VS. DISCURSIVE performance (eg. an indication that the system Flusser, in his theory of communication, is not working properly or it is busy). “Kommunikologie” (1996), warns of the dan- ger that chiefly discursive media, in which Derivative ~: those data that can be used as communication is disseminated or distributed indirect sources in inquiries different to those (as television, radio, etc.), could end up smoth- directly or primarily addressed by the data ering the dialogical media. While, in the latter, themselves (eg. "The fact that someone has information is created (e.g. in scientific discus- mentioned the sun twice is a sign that he is in sions, interviews, meetings, etc.) the former a good mood"). only disseminates it. Thus, Flusser’s warning Meta~: information about the nature and concerns creativity. This assessment is double characteristics of other data, usually primary faced: on the one hand, it is epistemological in data (eg. "What he/she is saying is a lie", "this the line started by Socrates, opposing a dog- text is stored in an extended ASCI code," "in matic and limited thinking to a dialectical and the data received there are not any detected er- open one; on the other hand, it is socio-tech- rors "...). nological, according to which, particularly In- ternet might not be the genuine democratic References communication, as it pretends to be; on the ― BOISOT, Max H. (1998). Knowledge Assets. Ox- contrary, its democratic character might be ford: Oxford University Press - Davenport, T.; dominated by hierarchical structures condi- Prusak, L. (1998). Working Knowledge. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. tioning that information is to be chiefly broad- ― FLORIDI, L. (2005). “Semantic Conceptions of In- casted –sometimes in a subtle manner- from formation”. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philisophy, centres of information and power domination Edición electrónica [online]
References number to material objects and defines ac- ― DÍAZ NAFRÍA, J.M. & AL HADITHI, B. (2009). ceptable forms of calculating the function. Are “the semantic aspects” actually “irrelevant to This is all part of the common sense or on- the engineering problem”? In special issue, Díaz & Salto (eds.) "What is really information? An interdis- tological background of that community. ciplinary approach". TripleC, 7(2), 300-308. [online, Only if these three facts or previous items ex- accessed 20/02/2010]. ― FLUSSER, V. (1996). Kommunikologie. Mannheim, ist the observer can state that the height of one Germany: Bollmann. differs from the height of the other. This can ― LOCK, J. (2004). An Essay Concerning Humane Under- also be seen when someone says that there is standing. [Online] Galaxia Gutemberg a difference between the objects A and B. It is http://www.gutenberg.net/1/0/6/1/10615/ [ac- cessed: 20/02/2010] very likely that anyone who is listening would ― SHANNON, C.E. (1948). "A Mathematical theory ask: "In what (quality) is it that they differ?". of communication". The Bell System Technical Journal, Whenever A and B are different, it is because 27, pp. 379–423, 623–656. of a quality or property they both have. (JMD)
68 glossariumBITri DIGITAL DIVIDE
Now, when Bateson uses the phrase above to the knowledge-based society, are the pillars define information, probably refers to the per- where the digital divide is based upon. ICT re- ception of a difference perceived by an ob- quires infrastructure and economic means to server, whose state, as a result of the percep- sustain itself as well as knowing how it works, tion, is altered, i.e. differentiated from the state the possibilities it offers and its appropriate existing prior to it. use. This may bring about a two-sided digital divide: on the one hand, those who have the When Floridi mentions "difference" he refers technological means and infrastructure and to the difference produced in, for example a those who do not. On the other hand, we find sheet of paper, when somebody writes on it. those who know how to use them and those In other words, he points to the change of who do not. This gap is an aspect that empha- state of a record, between two different time sizes the social and economic contrast that en- points. This operation is usually used to rec- compasses countries, communities, social ord information, by means of consensus sym- groups and individuals. One way to deal with bols, and that is the relationship between dif- this gap is through teaching and training peo- ference and information that Floridi puts for- ple by means of lifelong learning. In this re- ward. gard, the new literacies are: digital literacy, We see that both uses of the word "difference" technology literacy, multi-literacies, and infor- are not equal; although one could build a rela- mation literacy (INFOLIT). INFOLIT aims at tionship between them. For example, a word training autonomous learners who will be- written on paper might be perceived by an ob- come capable of analyzing, selecting, assessing server and it could trigger therein a state and using information to create new content change. However, clearly, Bateson refers to or develop their work or leisure time. the domain of perception and knowledge, The Organization for Economic Co-opera- while Floridi refers to the domain of objects tion and Development (OECD) defines the and records. concept of digital divide as having access to In conclusion, supporting a definition of the computers (ICT) and Internet and knowing concept of information only on the concept of how to use these technologies. However, "difference" we incur the risk of forgetting OECD understands technology as a social that first we need categories and qualities col- process which calls for exploring a wider lectively agreed, and the risk of confusing in- meaning of this concept. Within this frame- formation with records and representations of work, libraries are supposed to assume the re- it. sponsibility of reducing the digital divide through ALFIN proposals. This is understood References as considering technology means, information ― BATESON, G. (1972). Steps to an Ecology of Mind: and information management experts. None- Collected Essays in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution, theless, development politics has given prior- and Epistemology. University Of Chicago Press. ― FLORIDI, L. (2009). Information - A very short intro- ity to digital or technology literacy without duction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. people having the required information liter- acy. Information literacy is a must since under- (RG) standing and assessing information is a re- quirement to use technology tools appropri- DIGITAL DIVIDE (S. brecha digital, F. frac- ately and widespread to mediate information ture numérique, G. digitalen Kluft) [Information access and use. Knowledge is a powerful tool society, globalisation, economy] concept to fight against poverty. However, not all so- cieties are ready to assume these changes and The development of Information and Com- commitments. So it is necessary to make sure munication Technology (ICT) and the expo- that knowledge economy does not aggravate nential growth of information, two features of glossariumBITri 69 DISINFORMATION inequalities between a productive sector and
70 glossariumBITri DOCUMENT
In any case, as said before, disinformation is ― MATTELART, A., MATTELART, M. (1986). not usually considered as semantic infor- Penser les médias. Paris: La Découverte. ― RAMONET, I. (2002). La Tyrannie de la mation. Thereby in Dreske’s work or in →sit- communication. París: Galilée. uation theories, disinformation is excluded as a ― SCHILLER, Dan (2002). Digital Capitalism. Network- subset of false information, whereas genuine ing the Global Market System. Cambridge, MA: MIT information is characterized by a requirement Press. of truth. But more specifically, Floridi’s strongly (JMD) semantic approach excludes disinformation un- der its veracity requirement. Although this might involve a certain inadequacy to the DOCUMENT (S. documento, F. document, G. facts, it demands a strong adequacy to the re- dokument) [transdisciplinaryy, documentation, flection of these facts in the emitter (Floridi LIS, information management] concept 2005). This truthfulness commitment has a A document is a message delivered with a family resemblance with the pragmatic and in- communicative intention, potentially informa- tentional approach of Grice, according to tive and reusable for the receiver. It is an in- which an effective communication must be formative item. regulated –among others- by a maxim of qual- ity (truthfulness) (Grice 1989). Generally speaking, one can assert that docu- ments have always been involved in humans’ A whole critical trend on information media, intellectual activities. From the beginning of especially mass media, followed by a number the history of thought, man has used a number of different schools, intends to unmask those of objects or materials where he can capture disinformation situations, especially concern- and store his thought or feelings. There are ing institutionalized practices. One of the are- clear examples of such objects or materials: nas in which this concern has played a central the cave paintings, Mesopotamian clay tablets, attention is the Frankfurt School (Hork- the walls of sacred buildings Egyptian papy- heimer, Marcuse, Adorno and afterwards Ha- rus, the parchments and later the paper. Now- bermas (2001), →Critical theory of information). adays, the development of communication Also, the studies of W. Benjamin (2008), Mi- and information technologies increasingly rin, Baudrillard, Bordieu (1999), Ramonet contributes to electronic formats in collecting (2002), Mattelart (1986), Dan Shiller (2002), our intellectual production. etc. have deepened in different ways the char- acterization of dis-information in mass media, We usually use the term "document" to refer as well as its psychological, societal, political to all such objects or materials. In other words, we can identify any type medium that holds and cultural consequences. some types of information as a document. In References this sense, we can consider under the concept ― BENJAMIN, W. (2008). The work of art in the age of a document a written paper, a book, a pho- of its technological reproducibility, and other writ- tograph, a videotape, a DVD, a file created ings on media. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard with a word processor, a database or even a University Press. web page. To give a definition: Document = ― BOURDIEU, Pierre (1999). On Televisión. New York: New Press. any medium where information is repre- ― FLORIDI, L. (2005). "Semantic Conceptions of in- sented. formation”. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philisophy. [Online]. Stanford: Standford University. [Accessed: It is clear from the definition that document 01/02/2009]. has two dimensions: on one side, it is some- ― GRICE, H. P. (1989). Studies in the way of words, Cam- thing physical/material and on the other, it bridge, Mass.: Harvard U.Press. holds/contains an associated information or ― HABERMAS, J. (2001). Kommunikatives Handeln und detraszendentalisierte Vernunft. Stuttgart: Philipp Reclam. glossariumBITri 71 DOCUMENT informative content. Here we see the relation- In this regard, on one hand, the knowledge in ship between these two dimensions with the an individual represents (is reflected) in a doc- concepts of data, information and knowledge. ument by a code and its transmission is real- ized by the material transmission of the docu- The relationship between the two concepts of ment itself. When a second individual is able document and data seems quite simple. If we to obtain the information associated with the consider data is as the physical medium infor- transmitted document to form a new state of mation, document should be understood as (a mind by it, we can affirm that there has been special type of) combination of data. a transmission of that knowledge. On the Now, let us see what happens to its relation other hand, by the same mechanism, the with the concept of information. If infor- preservation and storage of the document ob- mation is understood as the semantic content tained as a fruit of representation of a concrete of data derived from an encryption key, docu- knowledge also allows the preservation and ment would appear to be as the material object storage of that knowledge. One can only ana- that can represent and implement infor- lyze this document under the same codifica- mation. tion key (or code) which used in the represen- tation of those mental states to be able to re- This representation and materialization helps trieve the associated information and create to explain several things. On the one hand, it new mental states in other individuals after explains how you can transmit information: storage of the document. In this way, this the information is represented (associated with) in (to) a document by a code and its knowledge can be retrieved by anyone who needs it at the right time. transmission is realized by the material trans- mission of the document itself. On the other In the same vein, to give a brief outline, it is hand, it also makes it clear that why the preser- also important to mention one more thing that vation and storage of document means the can make clear this entire conceptual scenario. preservation and storage of the information it We should not forget that, at certain occasions contains therein. One can only analyze this and in colloquial terms, we often classify a document under the same codification key (or concrete data as information or knowledge. code) used to associate it with that particular We also, usually in an organizational context, semantic content for retrieving the infor- use the terms "knowledge" and "information" mation after storage of the document. to refer to physical representations of the mental states, or the informative contents, to Finally, we tackle the articulation of the con- refer to documents (in any medium (paper, cept of document against the knowledge. electronic , optical, magnetic, etc..)) we use to Knowledge should be understood as those of represent and disseminate that knowledge or mental states of an individual that is con- information. For example, if a document (a structed from the assimilation of information and that controls the actions of the subject. fact, a physical occurrence) carries some infor- mation or is obtained as a representation of a Document, facing these mental states and knowledge that a subject has, in a larger sense, from its physical dimension and ability to carry we say also that this document is respectively information, plays an important role: it ap- information or knowledge. pears as the material object, which can repre- sent and implement those mental states resid- References ing exclusively in the head of people. This rep- ― RODRÍGUEZ BRAVO, B. (2002). El documento: resentation and realization, as happened in the entre la tradición y la renovación. Gijón: Trea case of information, helps to explain the trans- ― PÉREZ-MONTORO GUTIÉRREZ, Mario (2008). mission and storage of (explicit) knowledge Gestión del Conocimiento en las Organizaciones. from the transmission and storage of docu- Gijón: Trea. ― PÉREZ-MONTORO GUTIÉRREZ, Mario (2008). ments. “La Información en las organizaciones”. En DÍAZ
72 glossariumBITri DRETSKE, FRED
NAFRÍA, J. M. y SALTO ALEMANY, F. (eds.) Reasons in a world of causes (1988), Natural- (2008). ¿Qué es información?. León: Instituto Na- izing the Mind (1995), Perception, Knowledge cional de Tecnologías de la Comunicación (IN- TECO). and Belief (2000). ― PÉREZ-MONTORO GUTIÉRREZ, Mario (2006). But among all of his works there is one that “Gestión del Conocimiento, gestión documental y gestión de contenidos”. En TRAMULLAS, Jesús stands out, published in 1981 under the title (Coord.) (2006). Tendencias en documentación digi- Knowledge and the Flow of Information. At tal. Gijón: Ediciones Trea, págs. 110-133. that time he was still a professor at the Uni- ― PÉREZ-MONTORO GUTIÉRREZ, Mario (2005). versity of Wisconsin-Madison and it was be- “Sistemas de gestión de contenidos en la gestión del conocimiento”. [Online]. En BiD: textos universita- fore his collaboration at the prestigious CSLI ris de Biblioteconomia i Documentació, juny, núm. (Center for the Study of Language and Infor- 14, 2005.
glossariumBITri 73 DRETSKE, FRED
― DRETSKE, Fred I. (1988). Explaining Behavior: Rea- sons in a World of Causes. The MIT Press/Bradford Books. Cambridge, Massachusetts. ― DRETSKE, Fred I. (1995). Naturalizing the Mind. Cambridge: The MIT Press/Bradford Books. ― DRETSKE, Fred I. (2000). Perception, Knowledge and Belief. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ― PÉREZ-MONTORO GUTIÉRREZ, Mario (2007). The Phenomenon of Information. Lanham (Maryland): Scarecrow Press. ― PÉREZ-MONTORO GUTIÉRREZ, Mario (2005). “La semántica de la información en Dretske”. Ga- rrido, M.; Valdés, L. y Arenas, L. (eds.) (2005). El Legado filosófico y científico del siglo XX. Madrid: Cáte- dra. (MPM. –ed.-; MPM., MG)
(Duke University / Faculty database Philosophy Arts & Sciences) In the second part he presents his alternative definition of knowledge: belief caused by in- formation. Here Dretske replaces the need for the justification of belief in the causality of in- formation. By this change he tries to over- come the problems (the counter examples of Gettier and the paradox of the lottery) that the classical epistemological theories usually pre- sented and also enfores a suitable argument against the thesis of radical skepticism. In the third and final part of the work, the au- thor's purpose is to offer a definition of the content of belief, explanatorily compatible with its characterists: its intentional character, the possibility of possessing a false content and its determined role in the conduct. The objective is fulfilled when it identifies the con- tent of the belief with fully digitized infor- mation. In the same way, the concepts are considered as internal structures that are dis- tinguished by their semantic content, and when they are exemplified, they apply a con- trol over the outputs (conducts) of the cogni- tive system. References ― DRETSKE, Fred I. (1969). Seeing and Knowing. Uni- versity of Chicago Press, Chicago. ― DRETSKE, Fred I. (1981). Knowledge and the Flow of Information. The MIT Press/Bradford. Books. Cam- bridge, Massachusetts.
74 glossariumBITri E
EMOTION (E. emoción, F. emotion, G. Emo- References tion) [psicología, evolución] concepto ― BLANCHARD-FIELDS, F. (2005). Introduction to “Do we cry because we are sad, or rather are we sad the Special Section on Emotion-Cognition Interac- tions and the Aging Mind. Psychology and Aging, vol. because we cry?” (W. James) 20, núm. 4, pp. 539-541. Before answering please consider the follow- ― CHARLES, S.T. & CARSTENSEN, L.L. (2010). Social and emotional aging. In S. Fiske and S. Taylor ing simple experiment. In any moment you do (Eds). Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 61, 383-409. feel sad, take a pencil and bite it for a couple [Online]
glossariumBITri 75 ENDOGENOUS INFORMATION the coded data unreadable, except if the recip- from the contradictions inherent to Shannon's ient knows the code, by using encryptors or ci- formulation -summarized in the two italicized phers; 4) To allow the transmission of data sentences-: through a channel with certain resources and «The fundamental problem of communica- limitations, corresponding in the MTC com- tion is that of reproducing at one point ei- munication model to the transmitter-encoder, also ther exactly or approximately a message se- named modulator -especially in telecommunica- lected at another point. Frequently the mes- tions-. sages have meaning; that is they refer to or The decoder (E. decodificador, F. decodifica- are correlated according to some system teur, G. Dekodierer) is the device performing with certain physical or conceptual enti- the inverse operation of the encoder, whatever ties.These semantic aspects of communication are the purpose of the code: 1) the source decoder irrelevant to the engineering problem. The signifi- tries to restore the eliminated redundancy; 2) cant aspect is that they are selected from a set of the channel decoder removes the redundancy possible messages». (Shannon y Weaver, that has been introduced by the corresponding 1949:31-32) encoder, and correct those errors being de- As Bateson (1985:413) rightly pointed out, tected; 3) the unencryptor makes the data «the engineers and mathematicians believe readable; and 4) the demodulator or receiver- that they can avoid the complexities and diffi- decoder identifies the symbol transmitted culties introduced into communication theory through the channel –normally according to a by the concept of 'Meaning'» reducing the maximum likelihood criterion– and restate the matter to the syntactical level and building the data into its original form, i.e., how it was be- concept of information from a theory of sig- fore the modulator. nals (von Foerster, 1991:60). However the References idea of signal is only apparently aseptic, and
― SHANNON, C. E. (1948). “A Mathematical Theory only apparently syntactical. The signal refers of Communication”. The Bell System Technical Journal, to a difference that is ‘out there’, but that Vol. 27, pp. 379–423, 623–656, July, October, 1948. ‘something’ which is difference is distinguished ― SHANNON, C. y WEAVER, W. (1949). The mathe- by someone. The distinction is presupposed matical theory of communication. Urbana: The University by Shannon and Weaver in the form of selec- of Illinois Press, 1949. ― SKLAR, Bernard (2001). Digital Communications. Fun- tion (see Qvortrup, 1993). The fact that infor- damentals and Applications. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. mation is defined as the probability of selec- tion involves the observer in at least two as- (JMD) pects: first, probability implies expectation and context of use; and second, the selection is ENDOGENOUS INFORMATION (S. in- only conceivable on the basis of the assump- formación endógena, F. information endogène, G. en- tion of someone who selects. In both cases there dogen/körpereigen information) [cybernetics, epis- appears implicit semantics as a horizon of temology, constructivism, theory of complex meaning (Brier, 1992). systems] concept Moreover, the development of the concept of Contents.— 1) Difference and distinction, 2) The objec- information as a measure of order which con- tivist position, 3) The constructivist position, 4) The radical stitutes its fundamental link with universal constructivist position. magnitudes (such as mass or energy) presup- 1. Difference and distinction. The generali- poses the observational act as well. In Shan- zation involved in the common use of the rei- non and Weaver’s theory, both information fied idea of information must not hide the and noise depend on variety. If redundance is complexity and richness of the debate it has defined according to the “adjustment” be- produced. Debate which significantly emerges
76 glossariumBITri ENDOGENOUS INFORMATION tween variety and the number of elements, in- mation as an ontologically self-sufficient mag- formation and noise are expressed in direct nitude of Nature. In this case, the information proportion to variety. In other words, infor- is an external difference to the observer and inde- mation and noise depend on the number of pendent from him. Without resorting to Ston- elementsdifferent from one another. Neither of ier’s ontological exaltation in which the inde- them can be defined in larger quantities than pendent existence of information is remarked those allowed by the amount of variety as "a basic property of the Universe", Wiener’s (Ashby, 1977:238). In fact, as Ashby poses, words suffice to illustrate the common de- nominator of this approach and its cognitive- «It must be noticed that noise is in no intrinsic communicational derivations: way distinguishable from any other form of variety. Only when some recipient is given, who «Information is a name for the content of will state which of the two is important to what is exchanged with the outer world as him, is a distinction between message and we adjust to it, and make our adjustment noise possible». (Ibid.:256) felt upon it. The process of receiving and using information is the process of our liv- The issue of the distinction between infor- ing effectively within that environment. To mation and noise brings us definitely to the live effectively is to live with the adequate problem of observation. It seems implicit in information». (Wiener, 1954:18) Ashby’s words that order is the cognitive con- tribution of the observer that makes it possible 3. The constructivist position (b) intro- to conceive the difference between infor- duces in the concept of information the obser- mation and noise: order, as a Peircean sign, it vational instance as a result of the systematic is so for someone in a certain circumstance. The con- reflection on the contradictions pointed out in sequent paradox is that information is pro- the objectivist approach. The development of posed as a universal measure of order for a the second-order cybernetics placed self-refer- system whose activity of selection (to which ence in a privileged position within the opera- information depends on) involves a local or- tions of the cognitive system, making impos- der, coherent with its structure and opera- sible the conception of the informational flow tions. From the point of view of communica- in terms of transmission of objects. The con- tion (understood as ‘transmission’ of infor- structivist shift established thus two comple- mation), there has to be a correspondence be- mentary options: either (b.1) reviewing the tween the orders of selection of the observing concept of information, so that it became co- systems involved and, therefore, there has to herent with an idea of communication under- be an operational and structural correspond- stood as a behavioural coupling between two ence between them (von Foerster, 1991:75). interacting systems, or (b.2) establishing the hypothesis that the environment only exists The epistemological contradictions of infor- for the system as a product of its own creation. mation ultimately refer to its condition as a The one we call ‘constructivist position’ corre- code of difference. Consequently, it is primar- sponds to the first option (b.1), while the one ily an observational problem, a problem of the we name ‘radical constructivism’ will emerge management of differences. In this sense, and from the development of the second hypoth- partially following Qvortrup’s classification esis (b.2). (1993), it is possible to outline at least three differentiated positions throughout the con- The first option, derived from the incorpora- temporary debate on the epistemological sta- tion of the observational reflexivity, com- tus of information: pelled thus the consideration that communica- tion did not depend so much on what ‘the en- 2. The objectivist position (a), according to vironment gave the system’ but rather on what what has been posed before, considers infor- happened with the system in its interaction glossariumBITri 77 ENDOGENOUS INFORMATION with the environment or with another system a designation or a ‘pointing at’ with respect to (Maturana and Varela, 1996:169). Thus infor- something external, but as a restriction of the mation ceased to be a ‘capturable’ external dif- system operation itself. In other words, the ference and came to be conceived as a differ- system does not select differences of the envi- ence in the environment linked to an opera- ronment; the system is in itself a selection of tional change (a difference) in the system. The the differences in the environment. As in the Batesonian definition of information as the dif- previous case, the premise refers to a double ference that makes a difference (Bateson, 1985; hypothesis: on the one hand (c.1), the consid- 1991) summarises the conception of commu- eration of the set system-environment as an nication as operational coupling and in a way inseparable whole for the external observer - advances the second constructivist hypothe- applicable to self-organising systems, like liv- sis. In fact, for Bateson the difference is an ob- ing systems-; on the other hand, (c.2) the con- servational operation that emanates from the sideration of observing systems as operation- encounter between the perceptive structure of ally closed systems. The former line of reflec- the system and the world as it is presented to tion (c.1) is the one developed by von Foerster it. Implicitly the difference is neither in the (especially in von Foerster, 1981), the latter world nor in the observer, but in the encoun- (c.2) constitutes the essence of the autopoietic ter between them. Also implicitly (b.2): the systems theory developed by Maturana and world can only be for the observing system de- Varela (1980, 1996 and Varela, 1979, 1996). pending on what it is (that is, the environment In his article Notes on an Epistemology for Living is part of the observing system inasmuch its Things, published in 1972, Heinz von Foerster operational structure presupposes it). Conse- (1991:65-78) outlines the following proposi- quently, the difference is after all defined as a tional chain: (1) The environment is experi- mental issue. enced as if it was the residence of objects, sta- 4. The radical constructivist position (c) tionary, moving or changing; (2) The logical introduces, thus, a differential note with re- properties of “invariance” and “change” be- spect to Bateson’s definition. Paraphrasing the long to the representations, not to the objects; famous sentence, information would appear (3) Objects and events are not primitive repre- from this perspective rather as the difference that sentations. They are representations of rela- finds a difference (Qvortrup, 1993). In fact, this tions; in such a way that (4) the environment implies an elimination of the conductist sub- is the representation of the relations between stratum that remained in Bateson’s formula- “objects” and “events” and (5) a living organ- tion, in the sense that it made possible glimps- ism is a third order relater (operation of rela- ing a cause-effect coordination between the tions between relations of relations) from difference in the environment and the differ- which the differentiation between system and ence in the observing system. The considera- environment constitutes an emergence from tion that the environment exists for the system that operation of relations: depending on its operational structure obliged «Let be D* the terminal representation to restrict the functional determinism of the made by an organism W*, and let it be ob- cause-effect connection in the system-envi- served by an organismW; let W’s internal ronment encounter, especially when one was representation of this description be D (W, careful enough to highlight that communica- D*); and, finally, let W’s internal represen- tion was in no circumstance a traffic of differ- ences from the environment to the system and tation of his environment be E (W, E). [...] vice versa. The domain of relationships between D and Ewhich are computable by W repre- This view of information as an endogenous sents the “information” gained by W from emergence of the operational coupling implies watching W*: the conception of selection not in the terms of
78 glossariumBITri ENDOGENOUS INFORMATION
Inf (W , D*) ≡ Domain Rel µ (D, E) «Autopoietic systems do not have inputs or outputs. They can be perturbated by inde- (µ = 1, 2, 3, ... m) pendent events and undergo internal struc- The logarithm (of base 2) of the number µ tural changes which compensate these per- of relationships Rel m computable by W (or turbations». (Matura and Varela, 1980:81) the negative mean value of the logarithmic As a consequence, what is normally perceived probabilities of its occurrence to use them as a guide for decision-mak- Scientific Revolution. Boston, Kluwer Academic Pub- ing.» (Luhmann cit. in Qvortrup, 1993). lishers. ― LUHMANN, N. (1991). Sistemas sociales: lineamientos Ultimately, the two constructivist perspectives para una teoría general. Barcelona, Anthropos. considered here link the observational prob- ― MATURANA, H. (1990). Biología y epistemología de la cognición. Santiago de Chile, Universidad de la Fron- lems of information to a conception of cogni- tera. tion that, inasmuch as it is assumed as part of ― MATURANA, H. y VARELA, F. (1980). Autopoiesis its own condition of observation, becomes and cognition: the realization of the living. Dordrecht, necessarily a kind of epistemology. In other Reidel. ― MATURANA, H. y VARELA, F. (1996). El árbol del words, for the constructivist perspective, cog- conocimiento. Las bases biológicas del conocimiento humano. nition and epistemology overlap each other in Madrid, Debate. the same operative principle: ― MEAD, G.H. (1972). Espíritu, persona y sociedad. Bar- celona, Paidós. «There is an external world which already ― QVORTRUP, L. (1993). «The Controversy over the follows from the fact that understanding Concept of Information», in Cybernetics & Human can be made as a selfcontained operation; Knowing, vol. 1, nº 4. pp. 42-66. however, we do not have any direct access ― SHANNON, C.E. y WEAVER, W. (1949). The Mathematical Theory of Communication. Urbana, Illinois to the world. Understanding cannot reach University Press. the outsi de world without understanding. ― SHANNON, C.E. (1972). «Information Theory». In other words, understanding is under- Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 12. Chicago et al. standing as self-referential process». (Luh- ― VARELA, F. (1979). Principles of biological autonomy. Amsterdam: Elsevier. mann, 1990a:33) ― VARELA, F. (1996). Conocer. Las ciencias cognitivas: That self-referential proposal of cognition ar- tendencias y perspectivas. Cartografía de las ideas actuales. Barcelona, Gedisa. ticulated upon an endogenous conception of ― VARELA, F., THOMPSON, F., y ROSCH, E. information forces to attend to the biological (1997). De cuerpo presente. Las ciencias cognitivas y la expe- principles implicit in observational logics and riencia humana. Barcelona, Gedisa. ultimately poses a radical revision of the con- ― WIENER, N. (1954). The Human Use of Human Be- cept of communication. ings: Cybernetics and Society. New York, Avon. (JMA) References ― ASHBY, W.R. (1977). Introducción a la cibernética. Mé- xico, Ediapsa. ENTROPY or AMOUNT OF INFOR- ― ATLAN, H. (1990). Entre el cristal y el humo, Madrid, MATION (S. entropía/cantidad de información, Debate. F. entropie/quantité d’information, G. Entropie/ In- ― BATESON, G. (1985). Pasos hacia una ecología de la formationsgehalt) [MTC] concept mente. Buenos Aires, Carlos Lohé. ― BATESON, G. (1991). Sacred Unity: Further Steps to The entropy or amount of information of an Ecology of Mind. New York, E.P. Dutton. ― BRILLOUIN, L. (1956). Science and Information The- a discrete information source, characterised ory. New York, Academic Press. by the probability pj, of sending each of its ― FOERSTER, H. von (1960). Self-organizing systems, symbols, j, is the statistical average: California, Yovitz and Cameron. ― FOERSTER, H. von (1981). Observing systems, Sea- −= ∑ j log2 ppH j (bits) side, California, Intersystems Publications. j ― FOERSTER, H. von (1991). Las semillas de la ciberné- tica, Barcelona, Gedisa. being bounded within the limits ≤≤ log0 2 NH ― KANT, E. (1970). Crítica de la razón pura, 2 vol., Ma- , where N is the number of symbols. drid, Ediciones Ibéricas. ― LUHMANN, N. (1990a). Essays on self-reference, New In case the source might adopt various states York, Columbia University Press. i, being Pi the state probability, and pi(j) the ― LUHMANN, N. (1990b). «The Cognitive Program probability of sending symbol j when the of Constructivism and a Reality that Remains Un- known», en KROHN, W.; GÜNTHER, K. y source is in state i, then the entropy is defined NOWOTNY, H. (1990). Self-organization: Portrait of a as the average of the entropies of each state: 80 glossariumBITri ENTROPY OR AMOUNT OF INFORMATION H = ∑Pi H i = − ∑Pi pi ( j)log2 pi ( j) (bits) i i, j According to Floridi (2005), the entropy H might designate three equivalent quantities in the ideal case of a noiseless channel: 1) “the average amount of information per symbol produced by the informer”; 2) the “average amount of data deficit (Shannon´s uncer- tainty) that the informee has before inspection of the output of the informer”; 3) “informa- tional potentiality”. Since the first two interpretations assume that a defined uncertainty corresponds to each symbol (whether it is in the emission or recep- tion), it implies a certain tactical agreement re- garding to the →alphabet or the informational game in which the agents are immersed. In both cases, the information can be quantified under the condition that the probability distri- bution can be specified. Concerning the third interpretation, entropy might be understood in terms of a physical magnitude related to the amount of disorder in processes or systems conveying energy or information. The larger the entropy, the higher the number of physical states in which the system can be found, consequently, the more information it can refer to, or in other words, the specification of the state in which a certain system is requires more information as its entropy increases. Numerically, this is equivalent to the amount of information or data that has to be given in order to specify the state. References ― FLORIDI, L. (2005). Semantic Conceptions of In- formation. In E. N. Zahlta (ed.) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philisophy. Stanford: The Metaphysics Research Lab [online] http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/in- formation-semantic/ > [accessed: 12/11/09] (JMD) glossariumBITri 81 F FEEDBACK (S. realimentación / retroali- same direction. Obviously, this does not lead mentación, F. rétroaction, G. Rückkopplung) [trans- to stability; nevertheless, it serves to explain disciplinary, System theory, Control theory, the evolution of a system towards a new equi- Cybernetics] concept librium state in which it can be stabilized. This type of feedback plays a key role in morpho- It consists of feeding back the output of a cir- genesis, growth and organic development and, cuit or system to its own input. Usually used in general, in processes which are character- in controlling the behaviour of systems, it can ized by quick changes in their behaviour with be found in the most complex systems such respect to their initial conditions. as: technical, economical, thermodynamical, biological or social ones. In the field of social Negative ~ refers to the situation in which groups or human organizations of functional the system output -in response to a change in type, "feedback" is used in the sense of sharing its input- aims at reducing the variation; there- observations, concerns, proposals (especially fore, operating in an opposite direction to the in the opposite sense of normal circulation of change of input. In this case the feedback is the operating instructions or orders) to regu- applied to prevent the instability of the system late the operation of the system toward its due to external changes -which is referred as goals. Feedback systems are also called closed- homeostasis, or maintenance of the equilibrium- loop systems. accounting for control of organic behaviour and the possibility of a linear operation of the This is one of the fundamental means consid- system. Such stability with regard to the exter- ered by →cybernetics for the regulation, control, nal changes enables a teleological behaviour of and evolution (specially in second-order cy- the system (Rosenblueth 1943). bernetics) of complex systems. Feedback can be divided into positive and negative depend- Bipolar ~ refers to the situation in which the ing on whether the feedback path of the sys- system output -in response to a change in its tem -from output to input- reinforces or coun- input- can either increase or decrease such var- teracts the causes that create a change in the iation (depending on both the system state, system output. In the study of stability of feed- and the variation of the input). back electronic systems, Nyquist found the References general conditions that such feedback should be met to ensure the stability of the system ― ASHBY, W. R. (1957). An Introduction to Cybernetics. (based on mathematical models of the behav- London: Chapman & Hall Ltd. ― OGATA, K. (1998). Ingeniería de control Moderna. Mé- iour of both the open-loop system -without xico D.F.: Prentice-Hall Hispanoamericana. feedback- and the feedback subsystem). ― ROSENBLUETH, Arturo; Norbert WIENER & Julian BIGELOW (1943). Behavior, Purpose and Positive ~ refers to the situation in which the Teleology. Philosophy of Science, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Jan., system output -in response to a change in its 1943), pp. 18-24. input- tends to increase the variation in the (BH –ed.-; JMD, BH) glossariumBITri 83 FLOKSONOMY FLOKSONOMY (S. folksonomía, F. folk- Folksonomies and ontologies. The goal of sonomie, G. folksonomien) [social web] concept Folksontologies is to build an ontology from a folksonomy. This implies linking every tag Folksonomies are a set of terms (called tags) from a folksonomy with semantic relation- collected from the Natural Language. These ships. This allows to achieve shared conceptu- tags are used to describe web resources se- alizations used by users. mantically. Related Resources Context. This term belongs to the Social Web vocabulary. In social tagging, users describe ― Flicker: http://www.flickr.com their own or external social web resources ― Youtube: http://www.youtube.com with tags. ― Del.icio.us: http://delicious.com Advantages: References ― Easy to use. Folksonomies are a simple and ― VANDER WAL, Thomas. "Folksonomy Coinage friendly solution to describe resources. and Definition". (Online) 84 glossariumBITri FOTOBLOGS AND ADOLESCENTS communicate with their peers from different defined by the presence of a plurality of cul- virtual contexts. tures; with this statement we do not refer to the reality of the phenomenon of immigration, From these means of communication, the ad- but to the multiplicity of subcultures [1], as, olescent is projecting a representation of him- for instance, the ones expressing adolescents' self in which he reveals not only his personal- own interests. ity, his character, how he feels or what he likes, but also reflects who he would like to be. In Adolescent's use of photoblogs shows how this way, the photoblog is a place where con- the relationship between user and media has nections are established with the peer group changed due to the transformations intro- that the adolescent wishes to interact with and duced by the Internet and the processes of belong to. With this in mind, the adolescent digitalization. If the first theoretical models of goes about creating and shaping his identity. mass communication conceive this relation- The interaction between subjects with similar ship as linear and unidirectional, most current interests, ages and tastes, leads to the con- theories emphasize the active role of the re- struction of their selves through the image, ceiver. Thus, we have moved beyond the so- through the interface. Thus, the photoblog be- called dominant paradigm’s main theory of comes a space of socialization. how the media influences us, to being preoc- cupied with "what do people do with media?", The adolescent, through the discourse estab- or even beyond that to "what media do people lished within the photoblog, creates a narra- create?". tive; one which is understood as a mental con- struction of reality. As human beings, we seek Present day consumers not only actively use meaning in our experiences through a process the media for the purpose of satisfying psy- of using a language that we, as well as others, chological or emotional needs, as the Theory understand. This language can be verbal, tex- of uses and gratifications has stressed, but ad- tual, visual or physical. According to Bruner, ditionally people have become producers of the meaning we give to our experience and to media and audiovisual content. The resulting that of others depends on the public and change is not solely based, even on a primor- shared meanings of our interaction as mem- dial level, on technological innovation per se, bers of a culture. Today, it is a culture com- but in the creation of new socially recognized prised of two generations, one which has communication practices (See “Las industrias grown up with computers and another that audiovisuales y los nuevos medios” in Durán has had to adapt to them. Young people have y Sánchez 2008). From our point of view, the adapted media computers to their interests, use of photoblogs by adolescents demon- whereas their predecessors rather adapted to strates this turning point that new technolo- them. gies have generated. It is precisely this quality we wish to demonstrate when we characterize We live in an information and knowledge so- photoblogs as a symbolic creative space ciety where interests of different age and gen- through which an adolescent defines himself der groups and social classes, concern hobbies as a subject via interaction with others by and ideas that may converge as well as diverge. means of the aesthetic use of images. The media expose, more clearly, the character- istics of each group. Roxana Morduchowicz Thus, adolescents use photoblogs with the in- (2004) says that media construct myths and tention of creating new communication pro- stories through which individuals constitute a tocols that allow them to express themselves common culture. Thus, the identities of young not as consumers but as creators. It is about people are drawn in the intersection of written creating a space that goes beyond posting pic- text, electronic images and popular culture. It tures and comments in order to establish an is true that we live in an environment that is environment that reveals their relationships, glossariumBITri 85 FOTOBLOGS AND ADOLESCENTS moods, tastes, interests, etc. integrated into the edition of these visual forms, there is a their daily lives. It is an environment that en- decorative aesthetic intentionality that forms hances the subject’s creativity in an entertain- part of the content of the message. The repre- ing way, either in the pursuit of the most fit- sentation of texts, together with the images ting images or in the formalization of original themselves, confers a new communicative on-screen writing. An interesting characteris- sense to words. tic of photoblogs is that they communicate This article doesn’t pretend to make value that which is seen. All of this is done to estab- judgments regarding the use of photoblogs by lish a symbol of group identity to which the adolescents. It just wants to present a social teenager wishes to belong. We say “wishes” reality and indicate some aspects that reflect because, with every change, she is building her the so-called digital generation gap. Carles identity by communicating with her peers. Feixa, among other authors, talks about the Marc Augé (1996) affirms that individuals ac- generation ac (after computer) and bc (before quire existence only through the relationships computer). While in the past, generational among them. In the case of photoblogs, the gaps were marked by historical events or by teenager relates to others abiding by some music ruptures, today, the evolution of digital rules of use which, although not explicitly cod- media marks the distance between genera- ified, can be guessed through the study of the tions. different forms of representation. Young people who have grown in digital envi- On the other hand, the messages produced by ronments are not only more skilful and effec- teenagers by means of photoblogs cannot be tive than their parents in the exploitation of translated into another form of communica- these environments, but also show differences tion because the medium offers resources and in their ways of accessing information and strategies of its own, which allow the subjects communication in general. The difference re- to convey ideas and feelings graphically lies not only in the fact that one generation is through the representation on the screen. more passive and the other commits to inter- On photoblogs, the choice of images com- activity, but in that these processes are chang- bined with texts written in a particular way ing traditional cognitive structures and sche- constitute a new way of interacting; to express, mata. proclaim, question or answer and cannot be Applying the Uses and Gratifications theory, translated into another mode of communica- cited in the previous paragraph, we would say tion because the nature of the environment fa- that the medium is defined by the user. For cilitates a kind of speech that is difficult to example, the use that adolescents and their translate into spoken language and gestures. parents make of mobile phones can make us Perhaps we can consider this medium as one conclude that we are in front of a different de- of the extensions of the body which McLuhan vice. While the former are always connected has spoken about (1996); the photoblog is not through brief and trivial particularized mes- only a means of communication, but rather it sages or photographic snapshots, adults is a glimpse of a new way of relating between simply stick to the fixed phone's customary people who live in different contexts. routines. The use of photoblogs allows for strategies The same happens with the Web. Vilches and forms of communication that define it as speaks of "space migrants claiming the right to a context in which feelings or ideas are ex- live in the territory of a connected civilization" pressed through visual forms that determine (2001:36). This represents a paradigm shift in the nature of the message. Hence, the message relationships and in the construction of the so- could not be gestated in a different way and cial. Psychologists and sociologists study the obtain the same reaction in the receptor. In 86 glossariumBITri FOTOBLOGS AND ADOLESCENTS consequences that can result from being con- of digital media to suit their interests and tinually "plugged in". However, any change or needs. A space which was initially conceived rupture always produces arguments pro and as a means to "hang" amateur photos has be- con. And now we are witnessing, in regard to come a medium for the exchange of opinions the use young people make of computers, the and wishes, and the construction of personal- same sort of debate that took place some time ity. ago concerning television. However, there is a References fundamental difference that we mentioned at the beginning concerning these two changes, ― AUGÉ, M. (1996). El sentido de los otros. Barcelona: while the former TV addicts were passive, cur- Paidós. Pág. 24. ― DURAN, J. y SÁNCHEZ, L. (2008). Industrias de la rent messenger abducted youngsters act and comunicación audiovisual. Barcelona: Publicacions i edi- create. cions de la Universitat de Barcelona. Col. Comuni- cación activa. In this so-called global society, immersed in ― FEIXA, C. (2006). De jóvenes, bandas y tribus. Barce- what Toffler called The third wave, new sys- lona: Ariel. tems of symbols and codes have emerged, ― GIDDENS, A. (1997). Modernidad e identidad del yo. characterized by the use of image. Young peo- El yo y la sociedad en la época contemporánea. Barcelona: Península. ple receive and send orders and messages ― GOFFMAN, E. (1971). La presentación de la persona en through visual media. The photoblog is one of la vida cotidiana. Buenos Aires: Amorrortu. these spaces in which the image becomes a ― GONZALES, A.L. y HANCOCK, J. (2008). “Iden- new mode of communication. And we are not tity Shift in Computer-Mediated Environments”. En referring only to iconic images themselves, but Media Psychology 11: 167-185. Routledge. pp. 167- 185. also to the many ways of producing written ― LÓPEZ GARCÍA, G. (2005). Modelos de comunicación texts that are displayed on the interface. Such en Internet. Valencia: Tirant lo Blanch. "productions" are, in many cases, incompre- ― JENKINS, H. (2008). Convergente culture: La cultura de hensible and even insipid for adults, but one la convergencia de los medios de comunicación. Barcelona: Paidós. might as well ask them how those spiral note- ― MCLUHAN, M. (1996). Comprender los medios de comu- books and diaries they wrote and decorated nicación. Las extensiones del ser humano. Barcelona: Pai- when they were teenagers "felt" at the time, dós. and how they see them now. The references ― MORDUCHOWICZ, R. (2004). El capital cultural de and archetypes were different, but the need los jóvenes. Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Econó- mica. for "constructing one’s self" was the same. ― MURRAY, J. H. (1999). Hamlet en la holocubierta. El futuro de la narrativa en el ciberespacio. Barcelona: Pai- A different approach would consider these dós. spaces as an expression of uncommitted and ― RODRIGO, M. (2001). Teorías de la comunicación. Ám- merchandised low culture, full of banalities; bitos, métodos y perspectivas. Zaragoza: UAB, U. Jaume however, we must insist that it is the user who I, U. Pompeu Fabra, U. Valencia. makes the medium. There are, in the web, ― RODRIGUEZ, F. (2002). Comunicación y cultura juve- nil. Barcelona: Ariel. multiple collective projects with an altruistic, ― THOMPSON, J. (1998). Los media y la modernidad. creative or informative character, induced by Una teoría de los medios de comunicación. Barcelona: Pai- young people who, precisely, strive to avoid dós. the systems of economic exploitation in which ― TURKLE, S. (1997). La vida en la pantalla. La construc- ción de la identidad en la era de Internet. Barcelona: Pai- we are immersed. dós. To conclude, we say that adolescents’ use of ― WOOLGAR, S. (2005). ¿Sociedad virtual? Tecnología, photoblogs is part of the divers elements and “cibérbole”, realidad. Barcelona: UOC. actions that help them build symbolic forms in (LS –ed.-; SBB, JMD) order to make sense of their own experience and of their relationship with their environ- ment. Young subjects simply take advantage glossariumBITri 87 FUZZY LOGIC FUZZY LOGIC (S. lógica borrosa, F. logique being damaged by its fuzzy or blurred charac- floue, G. Fuzzylogik, verschwommene Logik) [trans- ter- is rooted in such fuzziness (Kosko 1995, diciplinary, system theory, control theory, Pérez-Amat 2008). epistemology, semantics] theory Intending to give an account of the way of hu- Contents.— 1) On fuzziness: thinking, language and man reasoning, which is simply inaccurate, information, 2) Introduction to fuzzy set theory, 3) Classic flexible, analogical…, fuzzy logic has been de- Set Theory (a. Membership Functions, b. Operations be- veloped as a logical calculus, embracing the tween sets), 4) Fuzzy Set Theory (a. Fuzzy sets, b. Opera- classical one -though distancing from its ap- tions between fuzzy sets, c. T-Norms and S-Norms), 5. proaches, particularly in its way of rigid rea- Fuzzy Systems (a. Fuzzy Relations, b. Composition of Re- lations, c. Approximate Reasoning) soning, which has been a fundamental charac- ter of mathematics since platonic times (Fer- "[...] Is a fuzzy concept a concept at all? - Is a rater Mora 1994, 409s). This logical calculus photograph that is not sharp, a picture of a person has been successfully employed in both artifi- at all? Is it even always an advantage to replace a cial intelligence and the so-called fuzzy control picture that is not sharp by a sharp one? Isn't one of industrial application, and it has been posed that isn't sharp often just what we need?" (Witt- as a basis of a quantitative approach to seman- genstein, L., Philosophical investigations, §71, tic information (Pérez-Amat 2008). 1958). But the fuzziness that can be ascribed to in- 1. On fuzziness: thinking, language and formation does not only concern the semantic information. “Fuzziness” is used as a visual level, which depends upon the more or less metaphor of vagueness, inaccuracy, in opposi- contingent characteristics of human reason- tion to sharpness or well-definiteness. ing. On the contrary, the information that can Unlike the traditional endeavour in science be obtained from an observed reality is in- and philosophy for avoiding vagueness (con- trinsically fuzzy: the signals that can be re- sider, for instance, the centrality of “clearness” ceived from some object are ultimately wave and “distinction” in Descartes and by exten- phenomena, which can only convey –due to sion in modern science and philosophy), there its constitutive nature- a finite number of data is a growing awareness of the fact that our over a bi-dimensional or superficial domain knowledge of reality (or the information being bounding the observed objects. That is, the conveyed or received about a concrete reality) whole wave phenomena outside the sources contains a constitutive vagueness depending can be determined by a discrete distribution on the pragmatic situation in which this over a surface surrounding the object, there- knowledge or information is immersed. The fore the dimension of the wave distribution in fundaments of this certainty can be found in the surrounding space cannot be bigger than the principles of statistical and quantum me- the dimension corresponding to such 2-di- chanics (→holographic principle), mathematics mensional discrete distribution. Thus, alt- (→incompleteness) or scientific methodology hough the real extension of the observed ob- (Pointcaré 1907). ject is 3-dimensional (volumetric) and it might be continuous, just a blurred projection of the In opposition to a negative assessment of observed object over a bounding surface can vagueness, fuzzy logic has started to be con- be achieved based upon the observation of the sidered as one of the fundamental features of wave phenomena. In other words, the infor- cognitive systems, language and knowledge, mation that can be gathered about something allowing them to achieve a plasticity and dyna- being observed is constitutively fuzzy (Díaz mism, which are essential for the adaptation to Nafría 2008; Díaz Nafría & Pérez-Montoro changing environments. Thus, the robustness 2010a, 2010b). of the cognitive and linguistic system -far from 88 glossariumBITri FUZZY LOGIC 2. Introduction to fuzzy set theory. The completely specified by the elements it con- fuzzy set theory was initiated by Zadeh in the tains. For example, there is no difference be- early 1960s (1964, 1965) (see Bellman et al. tween a set which consists of 2, 3, 5 and 7 ele- (1964)). In 1951, Menger (1951) explicitly used ments and a set of all prime numbers under the fuzzy relation "max-product" but with 11. probabilistic interpretation. Let X be a universe of discourse in which the Since 1965, fuzzy set theory has been devel- set A is a subset, i.e. oped considerably by Zadeh and many other researchers. This theory was started to be im- (1) plemented in a wide range of scientific envi- In the classical set theory, any element x which ronments. belongs to X, belongs or not to the subset A There have been many books on fuzzy set the- clearly and undoubtedly, without any other ory as the mathematically one by Negoita and option apart from these two ones. Ralescu (1975). There are also two research Membership or not of an arbitrary element x collections edited by Gupta et al. and Zadeh et to a subset A is given in most cases by check- al. (1975) and (1977). ing whether or not a predicate that character- Apart from the excellent research works of izes the subset A and gives rise to a bipartition Zadeh, other introductory articles are those of the universe of discourse X. presented by Gusev and Smirnova (1973), a) Membership Functions. The concept of Ponsard (1975), Kandel and Byatt (1978), belonging or not of an element to a set A can Chang (1972), Gale (1975), Watanabe (1969), be expressed numerically by membership and Aizerman (1977). function, also sometimes called characteristic There are several literature citations on fuzzy function. This function assigns a binary bit (1 sets written by De Kerf (1975), Kandel and or 0) to each element x of the universe of dis- Davis (1978), Gaines and Kohout (1977) and course as x belongs or not to the set A Kaufmann (1980). when (2) Mathematical formulas of the fuzzy sets the- when ory will be presented in the following sections ⊂ (§ 3, § 4, § 5). The basic definitions of classical any set A X can be defined by the pairs sets, and the definitions and types of fuzzy which form each element x of the universe sets, are revised. A detailed explanation of the and its membership function, as follows: operations between fuzzy sets, rules and (3) norms-t-s are also carried out. The properties and the composition of fuzzy relations are re- b) Operations between sets. Given any two viewed. The characteristics and approximate sets A and B included in X, it is possible to reasoning are analyzed. define new sets from them or, which is the same, it is possible to operate with them. The A classical set is a col- 3. Classic Set Theory. basic operations between sets are described as lection of objects of any kind. What is called follows: set theory was proposed by Georg Cantor (1845-1918), a German mathematician. In set ― Intersection: is denoted by A ∩ B and is de- theory, the set and the element are primitives. fined as the set formed by those elements They are not defined in terms of other con- of X belonging to A and B simultaneously: cepts. Let A be a set, "x ∈ A" means that x is if (4) an element in the set A and "x ∉ A" means that x does not belong to the set A. The set A is glossariumBITri 89 FUZZY LOGIC ― Union: it is the set formed by those elements Definition 1. Universe of Discourse is de- that belong to A or B, or both simultane- fined as the set X of possible values that can ously. It is denoted by A ∪ B take the variable x. It can be represented as: if (5) ― Complement: The complement of A is de- Definition 2. The membership function uA noted by Ā, and consists of all elements of (x) of a fuzzy set A is as follows: X that do not belong to A (8) if (6) Thus, any element x in X has degree of mem- (7) bership μA(x) ∈ [0,1]. A is completely deter- The three operations are shown in the following mined by: table. (9) Example 1. Suppose someone wants to de- scribe a class of fast land animals like ostrich, cheetah, horse, spider, man, tortoise and hare. Some of these animals definitely belongs to this class, while others like the tortoise or the : Operations between classical sets Table 1 spider do not belong. But there is another group of animals where it is difficult to deter- 4. Fuzzy Set Theory. In fuzzy set theory, classical sets are called crisp sets in order to mine whether they are fast or not. Using a distinguish them from fuzzy sets. Let A be a fuzzy set, the fuzzy set for fast animals is: classical set defined in the universe X, then for (Cheetah, 1), (Ostrich, 0.9), any element x in X, x ∈ A or x ∉ A. In fuzzy (Hare, 0.8), (Gazelle, 0.7), (Cat, 0.4) (10) set theory this property is widespread, there- i.e., the hare belongs with grade of 0.8, the ga- fore, in a fuzzy set A, it is not necessary that x zelle with grade of 0.7 and the cat with 0.4 ∈ A or x ∉ A. grade to the class of fast animals. In recent years several definitions have been If we assume that C is a classical finite set (x1, introduced to present the generalization of x2, ..., xn), then an alternative notation is property membership (Dubio 1987), (Pawlak 1985), (Shafer 1976), but it seems that fuzzy set theory is the most intuitive among the other theories and existing theorems. where + is an enumeration. The generalization is as follows. A part from it, Zadeh proposed a more con- venient notation for fuzzy sets. a) Fuzzy Sets. We can define the characteris- tic function uA: X → (0,1) for any classic set Example 2. The set of all the fast animals, in as shown in equation (2). In fuzzy set theory, equation (10), is described by: the characteristic function is generalized so 1/Chetah + 0.9/Ostrich + 0.8/Hare + that the membership function assigns a value 0.7/Gazelle + 0.4/Cat. (11) for each x ∈ X in the interval [0,1] instead of that is, one may describe the fuzzy set in equa- two-element set (0,1). The set is based on this tion (9) is as follows: extended membership is called fuzzy sets. 90 glossariumBITri FUZZY LOGIC in A , as noted above, is represented by μA (x). The fuzzy set A is the union of the degrees of membership for all points of the universe of discourse X, which can also be expressed as: (12) where the symbol of division is only a separa- (16) tor of sets of each pair, and the sum is the un- A(x)/x is an ion operation between all elements of the set. Under the notation of fuzzy sets, μ element of set A. The operation ∫x represents The + fulfills the a / x + b / x = max (a, b) / the union of fuzzy elements μA(x)/x. The uni- x, i.e., if the same item has two different de- verses of discourse with discrete elements use grees of membership 0.8 and 0.6, then the the symbols + and Σ to represent the union membership degree is 0.8. Any discrete uni- operation. verse can be written as follows: Young (17) (13) but when X is uncountable or continuous, the It is commonly convenient to define a fuzzy above equation is described as: set with the help of some formula so that, for example, all "young" could be expressed as: (14) Definition 3. The function Γ: X → [0,1] is a function of two parameters defined as follows: Equations (12) and (14) can written with the classical notation as follows: when (18) (15) This function can be seen in fig. 2 Example 3. Figure 1 shows some fuzzy sets defined in the universe of discourse Age. The fuzzy set "young" represents the membership degree with respect to the parameter youth where individuals of every age can have. Figure 2: An example of the function Γ Young Mature Old Definition 4. Let A and B be two fuzzy sets defined respectively on the universe X and Y, and is the fuzzy relation R defined on X × Y. The support of a fuzzy set A is the classical set Age containing all the elements of A with the membership degrees that are not zero. This is Figure 1: An example of fuzzy sets defined by S (A). It can be seen that the fuzzy sets overlap, so The support of a fuzzy set A is defined as fol- that an individual might have a degree of lows: membership in two groups: "young" and "ma- (19) ture", indicating that it has qualities associated with both sets. The membership degree of x Definition 5. A fuzzy set A is convex if and only if X is convex and glossariumBITri 91 FUZZY LOGIC sible to define operations like union, intersec- (20) tion and complement using the same member- ship functions. Zadeh proposed the following Definition 6: The height of a fuzzy set A on (Zadeh 1965): X, denoted by Alt (A) is defined as: Definition 10. The intersection between two (21) fuzzy sets is represented as follows: A fuzzy set A is called normal, if Alt (A) = 1, (25) is subnormal if Alt (A) <1. Definition 11. The union between two fuzzy In fuzzy control theory, it is usual to deal only sets is represented as follows: with convex fuzzy sets. (26) ∈ Definition 7. Given a number α [0,1] and Definition 12. The complement of a fuzzy set is a fuzzy set A, we define the α-cut of A as the represented as follows: classical set Aα which has the following mem- bership function: (27) when Definition 13. The product of two fuzzy sets in any other case (22) A and B is defined as In conclusion, the α-cut consists of those ele- (28) ments whose membership degree exceeds or equals the threshold α. Definition 14. The sum of two fuzzy sets A and B is defined as 4.2 Operations between Fuzzy Sets. Oper- ations such as equality, and the inclusion of (29) two fuzzy sets are derived from classical set Definition 15. a function n: [0,1] → [0,1] is theory. Two fuzzy sets are equal if each ele- said that it is a negation function if and only if it ment of the universe has the same degree of verifies the following properties: membership in each one of them. The fuzzy set A is a subset of fuzzy set B if every element 1) n(0) = 1, n(1) = 0 (boundary condition) of the universe has a membership degree lower in A than in B. 2) n(x) ≤ n (y) if x ≥ y (monotone) Definition 8. Two fuzzy sets are equal (A = B) It also says that n is strict if and only if if and only if 3) n(x) is continuous (23) 4) n(x) 92 glossariumBITri FUZZY LOGIC ory. At present it is considered correct to de- ― Boundary conditions fine the intersection operator by any applica- (31) tion t-norm and the union operator by any ap- plication s-norm (Schweitzer and Sklar 1961, The s-norms are used to express the union 1963, Weber 1983), which are non-decreasing of fuzzy sets: functions, so increasing one of the sets, also (32) imply an increase its intersection or union. It can be concluded that the max operator Definición 16. triangular Norm is a t-conorm. A triangular norm or t-norm is a function t: [0,1] ― s is an Archimedes conorm if and only if: × [0,1] → [0,1] which verifies the following properties: s(x, y) is continuous ― It is nondecreasing in each argument: s(x, x)> x ∀ x ∈ (0,1) If x ≤ y and w ≤ z then t(x, w) ≤ t (y, z) And an Archimedean t-conorm is strict if ― Commutativity and only if s(x′,y′) ― Associativity d) Properties of Fuzzy Sets. The laws and t(t(x, y), z) = t(x, t(y, z)), ∀ x, y, z ∈ [0,1] properties that fufill the classical sets are not always followed in the case of fuzzy sets. The ― the boundary conditions are satisfied following sections examine what laws verify t(x, 0) = 0, t (x, 1) = x, ∀ x ∈ [0,1] the fuzzy sets and what not: ― t is an Archimedean norm if and only if ― Commutative property: always verified, be- cause the t-norms s-norms are commuta- t(x, y) is continuous tive by definition. t(x, x) < x ∀ x ∈ (0,1) ― associative Property: is also verified as the t- norms s-norms are associative. And an Archimedean t-norm is strict if and only if ― Laws of idempotency: are fufilled. The mini- mum and maximum are chosen as opera- t(x',y') ― De Morgan's laws: its fulfillness is guarantized Definition 19. Let R and S be binary relations if the selected t-norms and s-norms are de- defined on X × Y. The intersection of R and S is rived from each other: t (x, y) = 1-s (1-x ,1- defined by: y). ― complementary Laws: they are not verified in (39) general. It is perhaps the clearest result to introduce the concept of fuzziness in the T-norm can be used rather than the minimum. sets. 5. Fuzzy Systems Definition 20. The union of R and S is de- fined by: a) Fuzzy Relations. As seen before, all the operations of union, intersection and comple- ment, operate in a single universe of discourse. (40) However, the Cartesian product allows the S-norm can be used rather than the maximum. product of universes of discourse. Cartesian Product. Let X and Y be any two uni- Definition 21. A projection of a fuzzy relation verses of discourse. A fuzzy relation R be- μR: X1 × ... × Xn → [0,1] on the universe of tween X and Y is defined as a fuzzy set whose discourse Xi, is defined as universe is the Cartesian product X × Y. That is: (41) (33) b) Composition of Relations. Let R be a fuzzy relation in the product X × Y and S (34) forms another relationship in Y × Z. If A1 and A2 ⊂ X ⊂ Y, and if the Cartesian . The sup-min composition of these product of A12 and A is defined as: Definition 22 two relations, denoted by R ° S, is defined as (35) the fuzzy relation in X × Z whose member- It can also be expressed as: ship function is: (36) (42) Definition 18. Let X and Y be continuous uni- verses of discourse. Then the function Definition 23. The inf-max composition, de- noted by R × S, is defined as: (43) (37) Definition 24. The sup-product composition as is a binary fuzzy relation on X × Y. If X × Y fuzzy relations in X × Z whose membership are discrete universes, then function is defined as: (38) (44) The integral denotes the sets of all tuples μR If we generalize the minimum and the product (x, y) / (x, y) on X × Y. It is also possible to by a t-norm and the maximum by a s-norm, express Equation (37) with ∫X∫Y μR(x,y)/(x,y), respectively, the compositions are obtained ,i.e., with double integral. sup-t and inf-s: (45) 94 glossariumBITri FUZZY LOGIC c) Approximate Reasoning. Unlike classical then C and then take A → B as a special case logic, in fuzzy logic, reasoning is not precise, where C coincides with its universe of dis- but it occurs in an approximate manner. This course, means that one can infer a consequent alt- hough the rule antecedent is not completely verified (Approximate Reasoning). The higher (50) the degree of compliance of the antecedent of the rule, the more approximate to the original which can be written as rule the consequent part will be. The approxi- mate reasoning is generally summarized, by extension of classical reasoning in the forms (51) of "generalized modus ponens" and "general- ized modus tollens. Finally, the conclusion B * is a fuzzy set B *= A * ° (A → B) can be evaluated by a generali- premise 1: Premis of the rule: zation of Modus Ponens proposed by Zadeh: x IS A* premise 2: rule: (52) IF x IS A THEN y IS B or Consequent: y is B* where A, B, A* and B* are fuzzy sets defined on the universes of discourse X, Y with mem- (53) bership function μA(x), μB(y), μA*(x) and i.e., μB*(y) respectively. This is the generalized modus ponens, which is reduced to the classical modus ponens when A = A* and B = B*. (54) The function of involvement is represented by a fuzzy relation in X × Y: R = A → B A more general case is that a system composed (47) of r1 rules, each of which is of the form IF x IS Ai1 THEN y IS Bi1 This function can be defined in several ways. For example, 1) Mamdani Implication: With respect to fuzzy control this Implication is the most important. where i1={1,…, r1} (55) Its definition is based on the intersection op- eration as described above, (48) Finally we analyze the case of rules with two that can be represented as a t-norm antecedents. Let A, B and C defined fuzzy sets in X, Y and Z respectively. The rules are rep- resented as follows: (49) premise 1: Premisa of the rule: 2) Zadeh Implication: The most widespread im- x IS A* E and IS B* plication. It firstly solves if A then B, if not A premise 2: rule: glossariumBITri 95 FUZZY LOGIC SI x IS Ai1 E y IS Bi2 THEN z IS Ci1 i2 ― GUSEV , L.A. and SMIRNOVA, I.M. (1973). Fuzzy sets: Theory and applications (a survey). Au- tom. Remote Control(USSR), 6(5), 66-85. Consequent: z is C* ― KANDEL , A. and BYATT, W.J. (1978). Fuzzy sets, fuzzy algebra and fuzzy statistics. Proc. IEEE, pp. 1619-1639. ― KANDEL, A. and DAVIS, H.A. (1976). The first fuzzy decade. (A bibliography on fuzzy sets and being (56) their applications). Comput. Sci. Dep. New Mexico Inst. Min. Technol, Socorro, CSR-140, 1976. with ― KAUFMANN, A. (1980). Bibliography on fuzzy sets and their applications. BUSEFAL (LSI Lab, Univ. Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France), (1-3). (57) ― De KERF, J. (1975). A bibliography on fuzzy sets. J. Comput. Appl. Math, 1:205--212. ― DÍAZ NAFRÍA, J.M. (2008). "Indeterminación de la observación". en Díaz y Salto (eds.) ¿Qué es infor- and it can be described as: mación?. León: Universidad de León, pp. 489-502. [Online] (también en Gupta et al. (1977), pp. 403-490). ― SCHWEITZER B and SKLAR, A. (1963). Associa- ― GALE, S. (1975). Boundaries, tolerance spaces and tive functions and abstracts semigroups. Publicationes criteria for conflict resolution. J. Peace Sci., 1(2), 95- Mathematicae Debrecen, 10, 69--81. 115. ― SHAFER, G. (1976). A Mathematical Theory of Evi- ― GUPTA, M.M. , SARIDIS, G.N. and Gaines, B.R. dence. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976. (1977). Fuzzy automata and Decision Processes. Amster- dam: North-Holland Publ. 96 glossariumBITri FUZZY LOGIC ― WATANABE, S. (1969). Modified concepts of logic, Probability and information based on general- ized continuous characteristics function. Inf. control, 15, 1-21, 1969. ― WATANABE, S. (1975). Creative learning and pro- pensity automata. Trans. Syst., Man Cybern., 5, 603- 609. ― WEBER, S. (1983). A general concept of fuzzy con- nectives, negations and implications based on t- norms and t-co-norms. Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 11, 115-134. ― WITTGENSTEIN, L. (1986). Investigaciones filosóficas. México: UNAM. (original: Philosophische Unterschuchu- ngen. Londres: Basil Blackwell. ― ZADEH, L.A. (1964). Fuzzy sets. Memorandum ERL. Berkley: Univ. of California. (publicado en Informa- tion and Control, 1965). ― ZADEH, L.A. (1965). Fuzzy sets. Information and Control, 8(3), 338-353. ― ZADEH, L.A., Fu, K.S., TANAKA, K., and SHI- MURA, M. (1975). Fuzzy Sets and Their Applications to Cognitive and Descision Processes. New York: Aca- demic Press. (BH –ed.-; BH, JMD) glossariumBITri 97 G GENERAL THEORY OF INFORMA- theoretical level, the general theory of infor- TION (GTI) (S. Teoría general d ela información, mation provides tools for measuring and eval- F. Theórie Générale de l'Information, G. Algemaine uating information. Theorie der Information) [Trans-disciplinary, For- Information levels mal theories, Mathematical theories] theory, disci- pline In the context of GTI, the concept of infor- mation is considered on three basic levels of The General Theory of Information proposed generality: by Mark Burgin (2003, 2010) is a synthetic ap- proach, which reveals the essence of infor- 1. Information in a broad sense is considered mation, organizing and encompassing all main when there are no restrictions on the in- directions in information theory. GTI has fological system. three parts or strata: 2. Information in the strict sense is considered • Philosophical/phenomenological, which gives a when the infological system consists of new vision of information and its place in structural elements. the modern world; 3. Cognitive information is considered when the • Methodological, which studies basic princi- infological system consists of cognitive ples of information theory and infor- structures, such as knowledge, beliefs, mation technology (→Principles of GTI); ideas, images, etc. • Theoretical, which is mathematically based An infological system IF(R) of the system R is making available different mathematical called cognitive if IF(R) contains (stores) ele- models of information, information pro- ments or constituents of cognition, such as cesses and information processing sys- knowledge, data, ideas, fantasies, abstractions, tems (→Mathematical stratum). beliefs, etc. A cognitive infological system of a system R is denoted by CIF(R) and is related Under the awareness of the irreducible variety to cognitive information. of information kinds, instead of pursuing a unitary definition of information, a parametric Consequently, we have three levels of infor- definition is developed on the phenomenologi- mation understanding: cal level of the general theory of information. 1. Information in a broad sense for a system R is By this means, information in the strict sense a capability (potential) to change (trans- stands in a very flexible way for a capacity to form) this system in any way. cause changes in an infological system. It is the adaptability of these infological systems, 2. Information in the strict sense for a system R is which enables this approach to adapt to the a capability (potential) to change (trans- multifaceted reality of information by means form) structural components of this sys- of formal models. On the other hand, on the tem, e.g., cognitive information changes knowledge of the system, affective infor- mation changes the state of the system, glossariumBITri 99 GENERAL THEORY OF INFORMATION (GTI) while effective information changes sys- tem orientation. 3. Cognitive information for a system R is a ca- pability (potential) to change (transform) the cognitive subsystem of this system. References ― BURGIN, M. (2010). Theory of Information: Funda- mentality, Diversity and Unification. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing. (MB) 100 glossariumBITri H HERMENEUTICS (S. hermenéutica, F. problem solving enterprise of our contempo- herméneutique, G. Hermeneutik) [Philosophy of rary societies (Brier 2008). language, semiotics, communication theory, As mentioned above, interpretation, whose ethical issues, information society] theory, discipline modern sense usually refers to the going back Contents.— 1) Is difference enough or do we also need from the sign to its sense, has a long tradition interpretation?, 2) Roots of hermeneutics (a. Between obscu- (in the extensions of both the latin interpretatio rity and clarity. Antiquity and Christianity, b. Modernity or its corresponding Greek term hermēnéia) and the epistemology of clearness, c. From the evening of en- where we also might encounter a root for the lightenment towards postmodernity), 3) Hermeneutics in the –so to say- transparency of information. digital era, 4) Towards a digital hermeneutics. 1. Is difference enough or do we also need 2. Roots of hermeneutics. interpretation? Concerning hermeneutics a) Between obscurity and clarity. Antiquity and Chris- and information theory, at the very beginning tianity. In addition to the mentioned sense in of the former we found a reflection con- Plato’s work of interpretation as a problematic trasting with the famous definition of the cy- apprehension of sense, we also found hermēnéia bernetician Bateson, by whom information is in other Plato’s works as an art of accounting “a difference what makes a difference” (Bateson for an obscure and distant meaning (Ion: 535a, 1972: 459). In contrast with this causal rela- Statesman: 260d). Such strain in the uncovering tion, we found in Plato’s Theaetetus that “the of the hidden is to be extensibly deepened in reason [of what is said] is an interpretation the medieval exegesis and its influence in the (hermēnéia) of the difference” (“λόγος δέ γε ἦν ἡ humanism trends (in both positive and nega- τῆς σῆς διαφορότητος ἑρμηνεία”, Theaetetus: tive senses). 209a). What has been understood by interpreta- Aristotle points out a connection, which is go- tion has a long and varied history, but in any ing to maintain a long tradition in hermeneu- case, it refers to a problematic rather than a tics: for him, hermēnéia is linked to language as univocal process, also stressing a sense of ef- an externalist expression of thoughts (De an. fort. Such endeavour for a problematic sense 420b). On the other hand, by using the term clearly differs from the most common view- to name one of the treaties of the Organon, point regarding information, for which there Perì hermēnéias, it is going to be later on identi- is a kind of causal and blind relation between fied as a technical term. information and its results in recipients. The dominance of this viewpoint in information In Christian Middle Ages, two main trends concerns –which can be for instance observed might be identified regarding the reception of in the automatic benefits expected by the in- the holy truth, whose weight varied through- vestment in information technologies (Pérez- out this long period, and reaching both lines Montoro 2008)– might draw us away from the the consecutive times: awareness of the problems regarding the un- In early high middle ages, the Agustine’s dic- covering of sense. To this regard, Søren Brier tum “credo ut intelligam” stands for a trans- claims that “information is not enough” in the glossariumBITri 101 HERMENEUTICS parency and clarity of the holy message, rele- an influential role in the scientific tradition – gating interpretation just for allegorical images especially in the Anglo-Saxon world of the old testament (Augustine 1888: §89). (Copleston, v.5, §7.8). In Locke we observe two tendencies that we may later encounter in From later high middle ages, such transpar- the communication models of the Mathemat- ency will be doubted and moved towards the ical Theory of Communication: 1) the already whole holy texts. In some contrast to mentioned transparency contrasting with the Agustine’s dictum we find Anselm of Canter- hardness of interpretation, 2) the regardless of bury´s assert: “Fidens quaerens intellectum” context contrasting with the necessity to re- (c. 1033 - 1109), remarking that the apprehen- build the –so to speak- sense scene (Díaz and sion has to be active (Ortega 1956, Williams Hadithi 2009). Regarding the first, Locke con- 2007). cludes his appraisal on general terms stating The sense of deepening into obscure mean- that: ings to bring them to light will be stressed to- “[…] men making abstract ideas, and settling wards the humanism period, where these two them in their minds with names annexed to them, tendencies can again be identified: on the one do thereby enable themselves to consider things, and hand, an ecumenical strive for an interpreta- discourse of them, as it were in bundles, for the eas- tion of allegorical writings of neoplatonic as- ier and readier improvement and communication of cendancy, as in the case of Pico della Miran- their knowledge […]” (Locke 1690, B.III, dola (1463-1494); on the other hand, a relative §3.20) rejection of allegoric readings in contrast with the clarity of God’s word, which must be ac- But these general terms –supporting communi- cessible to all men, as in Erasmus of Rotter- cation and knowledge- are bounded to general dam (c.1466-1536). This last trend, alienated ideas which must be decontextualize: with the Augustinian tradition can easily be “Words become general by being made the signs of identified with the endeavour for clarity in the general ideas: and ideas become general, by separat- very core of modernity, where the question of ing from them the circumstances of time and place, truth is not going to be tightened to religious and any other ideas that may determine them to this discourse. or that particular existence.” (ibidem, B.III, §3.6). b) Modernity and the epistemology of clearness. Alt- c) From the evening of enlightenment towards post- hough the prevalence of the discourse of clar- modernity. After the relative unfulfillment of the ity, the contrasting stances regarding the re- Enlightenment promises, right after the ception of sense do not diminish with the ad- French Revolution, the topic of clearness vent of modernity, on the contrary, it some- opens towards a deeper consideration of the times showed an open and sharpen conflict obscure, noteworthy in the Romanticism between the role of authority in counter-refor- movement as well as in the idealism. In the mation and all men accessible strive for clarity nineteenth century, for instance in the work of in rationalism. While among the former, au- Schleiermacher, the non transparency of the thority is a mediating warranty in the hardness text is going to be acquainted not with respect of interpretation, in the latter, clarity is the to a transcendental distance, but to linguistic, main guidance for the spirit: “all the things historical and cultural reasons. The restoration which we clearly and distinctly conceive are of the context comes to the first plane and the true” (Descartes 2008, §4). This topic of clear- interpretation aims -in Schleiermacher- to ness is going to be dominant in the rationalist “understand the author better than he under- and enlightenment movement, founding an stood himself” (Bollnow 1949), in the sense epistemology in which the transparency of that even something about the historical-cul- sense and true will be, for instance, the base of tural context can be found out in the herme- Locke’s semiotic theory, which is going to play 102 glossariumBITri HERMENEUTICS neutical process (thus beyond author’s inten- language which is available to that existence. tion). The historical knowledge and interpre- Interpretation in Heidegger becomes “the ar- tation becomes two faces of a same process. ticulation of that which is understood” as well Such identification is going to be stressed in as a constitutive dimension of the existence Dilthey for whom interpretation is an inten- (ibidem). This existence is “being-in-the- tional understanding (verstehen) of life mani- world with Others” and to that extend cannot festations permanently fixed (Dilthey 1909: be fully analysed (ibidem, §34). However the 319). Such interpretation process clearly dif- original worldly pre-understanding can be fers from the “easier and readier” “communi- grasped in the unveiled “world”, i.e. in the sys- cation” of “knowledge” depicted by Locke. tem of semantic relations allowing us to un- Hermeneutics become circular: the interpreta- derstand something as what can “stand out ex- tion of a reality to be understood is based on plicitly”. Deepening in this line, Gadamer de- some previous (contextual) data, but the sense velops (especially focusing on art, history and of this data is at the same time given by the language, therefore in a narrower sense that understanding of the reality being interpreted. Heidegger) a fully hermeneutical ontology (Gada- In other words, the outer perspectives alleg- mer 1975). edly used to ‘explain’ phenomena –usually by But if we take a look at the Anglo-Saxon tra- means of causal reason–, is here substituted by dition we find out a practical absent of the in- a inner perspective in which phenomena is re- terpretation concept as it was generalised first cursively grasped. A similar change in the per- in the nineteenth century historicism and af- spective of understanding is experienced in terwards by Heidegger. In this tradition, inter- the foundations of second order →cybernetics. pretation has been restricted in two directions: In the XXth century, most hermeneutical the- 1st) the comprehension of discourses and liter- ories continue the paths opened by Schleier- ary texts, stressing devotion on literacy criti- macher and Dilthey. If we consider the phe- cism and methodology; 2nd) pragmatism, where nomenological reduction (epojé), through Peirce is the most relevant source. In this sec- which phenomena should clearly manifest ond line, the influence of Peirce’s concept of (Husserl 1970), as probably the last serious interpretation as concerning the effects con- philosophical attempt of rebuilding the clear- veyed by signs (Peirce 1958: 5.475) has been ness project of modernity (Marías 1967: 403ss, of major relevance in the development of 1980: 263-266), we might then regard the time communication theory and semiotics, and also after recognising the impossibility of the phe- in several concepts of information. nomenological reduction as post-modernity. As we posed at the beginning of this article, is It is possible to establish a link between this there not a lack of concern in information the- breakdown and the discovery of Godel’s in- ories with respect to the problems revealed by completeness in formal systems or Heisen- hermeneutic? Could not an approach between berg’s uncertainity in physics (Díaz 2003), these two lines of interpretation bring new which might also be considered as some for- lights into information concerns? mal foundations of post-modernity. 3. Hermeneutics in the digital era. We live As Ortega showed in his early refutation of in societies whose political, legal, military, cul- Husserl’s epojé (Ortega 1914) the apprehension tural and economic systems are based on digi- can never be done without assumption. This tal communication and information networks is the fundament of Heidegger’s hermeneutics or in societies that are making major efforts to (Heidegger 1927: §32) for whom any existence bridge the so-called digital divide (Capurro et has an inherent pre-understanding of the al. 2007). Maybe this is one reason why her- world where it “is thrown” (geworfen); and meneutics, the philosophic theory dealing such pre-understanding is embodied in the glossariumBITri 103 HERMENEUTICS with issues of interpretation and communica- philosophy that leads to the creation of a new tion, has apparently lost the academic interest type of rationality arises usually from an out- it had in the nineteenth century as a relevant standing scientific or technological break- methodology in the humanities as well as a through (Bosteels 2006, p. 116). Today’s way of understanding human existence in the global and interactive digital network, the In- twentieth century. Santiago Zabala, editor of a ternet is one of those breakthroughs. The In- recent book in honor of the Italian philoso- ternet’s challenge to hermeneutics concerns pher Gianni Vattimo, quotes Hans-Georg primarily its social relevance for the creation, Gadamer, the founding father of philosophic communication and interpretation of hermeneutics, as follows: knowledge. This challenge implies a question- ing of the pseudo-critical rejection of herme- Vattimo has specifically called hermeneutics a neutics with regard to technology in general koiné: the common language in which philosophical and to digital technology in particular thought after Heidegger and Wittgenstein, after (Capurro 1990). Facing the digital challenge Quine, Derrida and Ricoeur, has spread every- hermeneutics must develop a “productive where; virtually a universal philosophical language. logic” (Heidegger 1976, p. 10) towards under- (Zabala 2007, p. 3) standing the foundations of digital technology Vattimo's hermeneutical critique of metaphys- and its interplay with human existence. A pro- ics and his plea for "weak thinking" can be re- ductive logic “leaps ahead” (ibid.) of the estab- lated to Turing's halting theorem, basic to lished self-understanding of a given science, in computational theory, as well as to Gödel's in- this case of hermeneutics, in order to under- completeness theorem (Chaitin 1982) as far as take a revision of its main concepts and dis- these theorems state some fundamental limits close a new area of research. to our seeking after truth, which forces us to There is a blindness in some studies of con- stand back from the claims to truth of moder- temporary hermeneutics with regard to these nity as mentioned above. According to these challenges (Figal 2007), with a few exceptions limits, we always make theoretical and/or (Irrgang 2005, 2007; Fellmann 1998; Kurthen practical presuppositions that cannot be made 1992), as well as in seemingly comprehensive completely explicit once and for all. encyclopaedia articles (Gadamer 1974, Gron- As shown in Capurro’s paper “Interpreting din 1996, Ramberg and Gjesdal 2005) also the digital human” (2008) hermeneutics is in- with a few exceptions (Introna 2005; Mallery, timately related since the 1970s with digital Hurwitz and Duffy 1990). In their article technology. After having passed through crit- “Hermeneutics” in the Encyclopedia of Arti- ical theory (J. Habermas), critical rationalism ficial Intelligence Mallery et al. do speak about (K. Popper), analytic philosophy (early L. the “precomputational nature of contempo- Wittgenstein, Hilary Putnam, Donald Da- rary hermeneutics” and suggest “the reformu- vidson), deconstructivism (J. Derrida), the lation and refinement of ideas about both her- phenomenology of the symbol (P. Ricoeur), meneutics and AI.” (Mallery et al. 1990, p. psychoanalysis (J. Lacan), dialectic materialism 374). (A. Badiou), mediology (R. Debray), the her- As ar- meneutics of the subject (M. Foucault) and 4. Towards a digital hermeneutics. gued elsewhere (Capurro 2008, 2009) the task particularly through Gianni Vattimo’s “weak of hermeneutics in the digital age is twofold, thought” (“pensiero debole”), to mention just namely to think the digital and at the same some of the prominent contemporary philo- time to be addressed by it. The first task leads sophic schools, Hermeneutics is facing today to the question of the way in which the digital the challenge arising from digital technology code has an impact on all kinds of processes, by becoming what Capurro calls digital herme- particularly the societal ones. In this regard, neutics. Every revolutionary transformation in 104 glossariumBITri HERMENEUTICS digital hermeneutics is at the core of →infor- Ethics deals mainly with one question: who mation ethics understood as the ethical reflec- am I? This question is not to be understood as tion on rules of behaviour underlying the asked by an isolated individual but as a basic global digital network including its interaction human question that is stated implicitly or ex- with other social systems as well as with natu- plicitly in practical life by every human being ral processes. The second task refers to the no less than by groups, states and today's challenge of the digital with regard to the self- global dimension: who are we as humankind? interpretation of human beings in all their ex- This question is anything but academic. It is a istential dimensions, particularly their bodies, question of survival. Hermeneutics in the dig- their autonomy, their way of conceiving and ital age must become aware of this situation in living in time and space, their moods and un- order to make explicit the different political, derstanding of the world, the building of social legal and cultural norms and identities, the way structures, their understanding of history, they are affected by the digital code and the their imagination, their conception of science, consequences for the construction of human and their religious beliefs. identities as well as for the interaction between nature and society. Following Foucault, ethics According to Lawrence Lessig “code is law” can be understood as the questioning of mo- (Lessig 1999). If this is the case then herme- rality (Foucault 1983). It works as a catalyst of neutics must reflect on the nature of this code social processes weakening the dogmatism of and its interaction with economics, politics morality and law without just striving towards and morality. The balance between these their replacement through another moral spheres, including nature, is related to what code. It is an open or free space that allows for was often called justice (“dike”) in Greek clas- a permanent critique of all kinds of blocking sical philosophy. This concept is broader than processes within and beyond the digital the one applied to social interactions, particu- sphere. Who are we as a society at the local larly with regard to the distribution of eco- and global level in the age of digital and glob- nomic wealth. It implies the complex interplay alized communication? This question does not between humans and nature using different address a problem of text interpretation but programs or digital codes that interact with our own self-understanding and ‘verification’ natural processes (Eldred 2006). It would be in the sense that the media itself and the pro- ‘unjust’ if cyberspace were to dominate other cesses that are object of hermeneutical study spheres by becoming a digital metaphysics. are at the same time existential dimensions of The task of weakening such a project is a ma- the interpreters themselves The hermeneutic jor task of digital hermeneutics. One example subject ‘verifies’ or makes herself a digital ob- of a strong version of the digital is the domi- ject. nance of mass media with their hierarchical structures in the twentieth century. Vilém Human existence is a valuing activity but the Flusser feared that this power would eventu- human evaluator has no value but a “dignity” ally become the dominant one over dialogical or “Würde” as Kant called it. This is not nec- structures of communication (Flusser 2006). essarily based on a metaphysical view of man The Internet weakens media monopolies. The and world but arises already from the very sit- digital code makes possible the interaction of uation of being-in-the-world itself as far as this the human with the natural and the artificial. being itself is not something we could valuate The digital network weakens the classic West- but is the horizon within which every valua- ern view of an autonomous subject and makes tion takes place. Within this horizon, all be- possible a dialogue with Taoist views of nature ings, human or not, have a dignity but non- (Jullien 2003) as well as with Japanese Bud- human beings, as far as they are not subjects dhism (Capurro 2006). of valuation processes, have a relative value glossariumBITri 105 HERMENEUTICS when they become object of human transac- through the digital code? What are the episte- tions within a social process of valuation. mological, ontological and ethical conse- From this perspective, the economy as a pro- quences? How do human cultures become hy- cess of permanent valuation is a main trait of bridized and in which way does this hybridiza- every human community as such. This herme- tion affect the interplay with natural processes neutic reflection makes clear why the digital and their interplay with the production and sphere as a product of human invention, can- use of all kind of artificial products in a digital not become the final horizon of valuation for economy? These questions go far beyond the all possible understanding of the world and horizon of classic hermeneutics as a theory of human existence. Being relative, the digital be- text interpretation as well as beyond classic comes an opportunity for the subjects of the philosophic hermeneutics dealing with the twenty-first century to transform themselves question about human existence inde- and their connections in and within the world pendently of the pervading impact of digital overcoming for instance the strong metaphys- technology. We live in a world that is less and ical concepts that were leading for the self-un- less a familiar “life-world.” We have become a derstanding of Western societies for centuries. troublesome field that requires hard labor and This does not mean that such concepts could heavy sweat (“factus sum mihi terra difficulta- be set aside or just replaced by the new ones, tis et sudoris nimii”; Augustinus 1998, X, p. but they can be hybridized with different kind 16). Hermeneutics misunderstands itself if it of reasons, imaginations, ambitions and uto- does not take care ontically and ontologically pias, hopes and disappointments arising from of digital technology with its overwhelming the digital code. impact on our lives. Whereas digital technol- ogy would pursue an empty target, if we be- If this is the case, in different ways and inten- lieve that “information is enough” and we ne- sities, the digital code becomes a real contri- glect restoring “the reasons of what is said”. bution to humanity as well as to its interaction Thus we might be building up a “meaning- with non-human spheres. It could weaken the less” Information Society. metaphysical ambitions of (Western) logos by making it more flexible with regard to the References global cultural interplay in which we look for ― ARISTOTLE (1846). Περὶ ψυχῆς. Oeuvre Complete. reasons for our preferences in dialogue with Greek with French translation [online] P. Remacle's different beliefs and desires of other human collection 106 glossariumBITri HERMENEUTICS ― CAPURRO, Rafael (2009). “Digital hermeneutics: ― FIGAL, Günter (2007). Gegenständlichkeit. Das an outline”. AI & Society, ― LOCKE, J. (1690). An essay concerning human under- Since there is a (quantum) limit in the entropy standing, Jones-edition. [online] China: Humanities by surface unit (for every four Planck areas Computing & Methodology Program (RIH), the Chinese University of Hong Kong HOLOGRAPHIC PRINCIPLE (S. principio holográfico, F. principe holographique, G. Holo- grafisches Prinzip) [theoretical physics] concept, the- ory This principle, suggested by Gerard’t Hooft in 1993 and developed by Leonard Susskind (1997), points out that the information con- tained in a volume can be represented by in- formation over its bounding surface. 108 glossariumBITri I IMAGE (S. imagen, F. image, G. bild) [audiovis- through different media and in diverse for- ual, aesthetics, communication theory, cogni- mats. tion, message] concept But, what is a visual image? “Image is always shaped by deep structures attached Visual image are the ones we perceive through to the exercise of a language, as well as to the mem- sight, displayed in a support, material or me- bership in a symbolic organization (a culture, a so- dium. A visual image is a photograph, a sculp- ciety); but image is also a means of communication ture, painting, illustration, engraving or the in- and representation of the world that has its place in terface of the computer screen. Images never all human societies”. (Jacques Aumont) present themselves, but always re-present, be- Hans Belting says that an image is more than cause they are displayed in a new material or a product of perception. It manifests itself as medial dimension. This means that the refer- a result of personal or collective symboliza- ent acquires a concrete, new, synthetic or em- tion. We know many of the events of the past, phatic meaning when it is displayed through present and future through images that pro- an image, which completes its full sense when vide us, altogether, with a view, that is, with an it is interpreted by a receiver. idea, a concept, a sense of the period or situa- As Vilches argues, images are empty forms, and tion. require, if they have to transmit information, Thus, there are images that we see, but also an observer’s interpretative competence to mental or conceptual images that can act as complete them with contents. An image is a benchmarks, models or diagrams helping us to proposition of which the receiver extracts the interpret the world and our relationship with contents and meaning producing the phenom- it. Currently, more than ever, we receive the enon of communication in time and space. information we process, analyze and synthe- The material and the immaterial are unified in size at different levels, through visual images the image, which always needs a context and a that act on the receptor differently depending specific time to be interpreted accurately. on the context and circumstances where they Moreover, rather than the presence of an ab- manifest themselves. sence, the image is defined as a synthesis, as an Logically, in turn, our mental images nourish emphasis on an intention to mean something. themselves from the visual content circulating We say "a" synthesis and not "the" synthesis, through the Technologies of Information and because the same image, depending on the Communication; this provides a new para- context, the intention of the issuer, or the per- digm for the decoding of messages, the inter- ception of the receiver, can offer many senses. pretation of content and the development of Therefore, the sense an image can have is not communication mediated relations, in which hermetic, but it depends on the interaction of images are the absolute protagonist, displaying several factors. Régis Debray, in Vie et mort de their variegated meanings and presented l’image, says that we internalize the images- glossariumBITri 109 IMAGE things and externalize mental images, so that chotomy does not occur. Any message is com- imagery and imagination induce each other. posed with a purpose (i.e., to express, explain, direct, incite, accept) which, to be significant, The classification of images has been, and is, a requires the optimization of the formal ex- path chosen by different authors to come near pressions. a definition of the concept of image. We can dwell on the arguments of some of them. On the other hand, Rudolf Arnheim distin- guishes three functions, not classes, coining Abraham Moles establishes four features of im- the terms of representation, symbol and sign. ages: the degree of figuration (the representa- However, the most interesting part of his the- tion of objects or known beings), the degree oretical contribution is his formulation of "vis- of iconicity (the abstraction concerning the ual thinking". Arnheim says that visual percep- item represented), the degree of complexity tion is visual thinking, taking the first to be not (the various plastic elements) and the degree a passive record of observed material, but an of normalcy (which is related to diffusion or active interest of the mind. Also, images copying). For Moles, visual messages allow us stored in memory are used to identify, inter- to represente a fragment of the world, whether pret and contribute to the perception of new real or imaginary; the visual communication images. Arnheim’s point can be used to con- process is established with an exchange of sig- nect the two sorts of images we mentioned nals between the sender and receiver, either in earlier in this article: visual images and mental a purely conventional framework or exploring images. an imaginary world in which different levels of abstraction are established or schematized. Jacques Aumont also distinguishes three modes, These different levels are what he calls the namely: the symbolic mode, as when the di- scale of iconicity. vine presence materialized through idols ven- erated as sensitive manifestations (although it Martine Joly points out that there are three fac- must be said that images, in its symbolic form, tors that play a role in the transmission of in- have also been used in the secularization of formation through images: plastic signs (col- Western societies to transmit new values); the ors, shapes, textures and space), iconic signs epistemic mode, as when images provide in- (pictures and motives) and linguistic signs. Joly formation and knowledge about the world; starts out from the idea of analogy, and ex- and the aesthetic mode, in which images plains that an image is something that resem- please the viewer and provide him specific bles something else. Thus, in the study of the sensations. photographic image, she establishes two dis- tinct levels: "observation" and "interpreta- Visual studies, which have visual culture as ob- tion", and believes that in reading an image an ject of interest, analyze the information con- interaction between it and the reader is estab- tained in images, focusing on how technology, lished which causes a series of expectations media and social practices of representation such as memorization and anticipation. and reception are deeply interwoven with hu- man societies, ethics and politics, aesthetics For Donis A. Dondis there are three levels of and epistemologies of seeing and being seen. visual expression: representation, which means particularity, abstraction, which means W.J.T. Mitchell thinks that images have "lives" universality, and symbolism, which is conven- generated by those who created them; he fo- tional. It must be said that these three levels of cuses not only on the field of art, but also ar- information are interconnected. Besides pro- gues that visual culture is nourished by the posing this general classification, she states most varied expressions from all areas. Mov- that the content and form of an image are in- ing beyond a semiotic view, he maintains that separable; in visual communication this di- images are presented to us, and that we can not describe or interpret them linguistically. 110 glossariumBITri INCOMPLETENESS Although they are related, words and images c) The situation s is of type S. belong in knowledge categories that can not References be compared with each other. ― PERRY, J; ISRAEL, D. (1990). “What is infor- The multiple visual environments of our time mation?”. Information, Language, and Cognition. P. Han- lead us to process information in a non-linear, son, University of British Columbia Press, 1990, p. immediate and fleeting way. In images we see, 1-19. reflected, the environments where we operate, (LS –ed.-; CA) but also through images what exists, which can be intangible or, paradoxically, not visual, manifests itself. The fact of “putting in im- INCOMPLETENESS (S. incompletud, incom- ages” emotions, desires, arguments or differ- pletitud, F. incompletude, G. Unvollständigkeit) ent intentions helps us discover new ways of [transdiciplinary, logics, recursiveness theory, imagining reality. formal semantics] concept References Gathering things is quite different from gath- ering sentences. Things, in its most general ― ARNHEIM, R. (1986). El pensamiento visual. Bar- sense (what the classics called transcendental) celona: Paidós. ― AUMONT, J. (1992). La imagen. Barcelona: Paidós. are gathered in sets or bigger classes, up to the ― BELTING, H. (2007). Antropología de la imagen. proper class of everything. We may say such a Madrid: Karz Editores. huge collection is complete. But notice it is de- ― CATALÀ, J. (2005). La imagen compleja. La feno- prived of the collection of all and only incom- menología de las imágenes en la era de la cultura vi- sual. Barcelona: UAB. plete collections. Hence it is not complete af- ― DEBRAY, R. (1994). Vida y muerte de la imagen. ter all. Barcelona: Paidós. ― DONDIS, D.A. (2006). La sintaxis de la imagen. In- More modestly, we may gather all things that troducción al alfabeto visual. Barcelona: G.G. are sentences of a language. Just as in Borges' ― JOLY, M. (1999). Introducción al análisis de la ima- Babel Library, where the infinite set of all pos- gen. Buenos Aires: La Marca. sible sentences are compiled. This set may ― MITCHELL, W. (2003). “Mostrando el ver”, en Re- seem somehow complete, but again notice it is vista Estudios visuales. Murcia: CendeaC. ― VILCHES, L. (1983). La lectura de la imagen. Bar- not particularly interesting, since it is a trivial celona: Paidós. chaos where anything expressible is expressed. ― ZUNZUNEGUI, S. (1998). Pensar la imagen. Ma- drid: Cátedra: Universidad del País Vasco. So let's now gather, even more modestly, only all the true sentences of a language. This is the (LS –ed.-; SBB) first useful sense of completeness. Given a do- main of interpretation and a language referring INCREMENTAL INFORMATION (S. to it, a set of sentences is model-complete if it información incremental, F. informations contains all sentences that are true in such a supplémentaires, G. inkrementelle Information) domain. Notice that other languages with dif- [Situation theory] concept ferent expressive power may also contain this set among their sentences; just as such a do- Incremental informational content: relative to main may be described by other languages. A constraint C’, and given event s’, a situation s mathematically precise notion of “domain of carries the information that there is a situation interpretation” brings us to distinct semantics. of type S’’ if and only if: It's certainly not easy to gather model com- a) There is a constraint C’ holding between plete set of sentences. Accumulating all truths the type that results from the conjunction about my left little finger is a huge task. Even of S and S’, and the type S’’ (C = [S S’ => gathering all expressible truths about my left S’’]). little finger is an impressive unprobable piece b) The anchoring event s’ is of type S’. of work. However, there are a number of such glossariumBITri 111 INDEXING LANGUAGE huge tasks that we perform with our tiny References brain, poor resources and limited time. ― BOOLOS, G.; R. JEFFREY, J. BURGUESS (2002). Learning a natural language is one of them, Computability and Logic. Cambridge: Cambridge Uni- versity Press. since it involves the task of acquiring a recur- ― BORGES, J.L. (1996). “La biblioteca de Babel” en: sive procedure to access the infinite set of all Ficciones, Obras Completas I. Barcelona: Emecé. sentences. Another example of the application ― FITTING, M. (2007). Incompleteness in the Land of finite rules to construct an infinite amount of Sets. New York, Berlin: Springer. ― GÖDEL, K. (1931). “Über formal unentscheidbare of finite sequences is Babel's Library as de- Sätze der Principia Mathematica und verwandter scribed by Borges, which is learnable or con- Systeme”. Monatshefte für Mathematik und Physik, structible with just the alphabet. 38, 173-198. ― SALTO, F. (2006). “Verdad y Recursividad.” en: Another computable procedure with the same J.M. Méndez (ed.). Artículos de segunda mano. recursive structure is the one constructing de- Salamanca: Varona. ductions or proofs from rules and axioms. In ― SMULLLYAN, R. (1992). Gödel's Incompleteness this case sequences of sequences are recur- Theorems. New York: Oxford University Press sively formed, in such a way that an infinite set (FS) of truths can be condensed in a finite, even small, set of axioms. INDEXING LANGUAGE (S. lenguaje Is there a similar procedure to recursively ob- documental, F. langages documentaires, G. tain a model-complete set of truths?, that is, a kontrolliertes Vokabular) [Information recursive or computational means to access all management, documentation, Library and truths with respect to a certain domain of in- Information Science] concept terpretation? Indexing languages are a subset of natural lan- Take for example the natural numbers, as the guages used to describe documents. These infinite domain standardly interpreting arith- languages are part of the information science metic. Let the language of arithmetic be given, techniques used to describe resources. The say as was informally taught to us in school. goal is to represent information in order to im- Moreover, we have a computational proce- prove the retrieval of relevant documents. dure to calculate logical consequences from There are several types of indexing languages. basic axioms of arithmetic (as discovered by The oldest are library classifications and sub- Peano and Frege). Do we have then a logical ject headings. In recent times, Computer Sci- procedure to compute all arithmetical truths? ence's development and changes in infor- Gödel proofed that such a procedure does not mation needs has brought new indexing lan- consistently exist, the proof being the first in- guages. completeness theorem. This answers nega- tively the question whether a model complete Indexing languages are concerned by two fac- collection of truths is accessible by purely re- tors: cursive or computational means. Notice it ― Considerations regarding linguistic aspects does not answer the question of whether non- ― Functional considerations. In specific con- recursive methods are available to access the texts these tools are used to improve per- set of all truths (arithmetical or of another na- formance. ture). Annexed files include several explicit proofs 1. Types of Indexing languages and additional materials. for the notion of in- d) Free Language: (i) Uniterm lists, (ii) Keyword form. lists, (iii) Glossaries, (iv) →Folksonomies e) Language codes: library classification schemes 112 glossariumBITri INFO-COMPUTATIONALISM f) Controlled vocabularies: (i) Based on hierar- INFO-COMPUTATIONALISM (S. Info- chies: →Taxonomies, (ii) Based on hierar- computacionalismo, F. Info-calcul, G. Info-Berech- chies, associations and equivalent terms: nung) [Transdiciplinary, Philosophy of infor- Thesauri and subject headings, (iii) Based mation and computation, Computation the- on terminology ontologies in a specific con- ory] theory text and with associations to current re- Info-computationalism is the view that the sources: →Topic Maps. physical universe can be best understood as 2. Thesaurus as a reference model. computational processes operating on infor- Thesurus is a prototypical indexing language. mational structure. Classical matter/energy in A thesaurus is structured as a semantic net- this model is replaced by information, while work limited to a domain. This network is the dynamics are identified as computational composed of nodes, and each node represents processes. In this view the universe is a gigan- a concept. This is an agreed language, with tic computer that continuously computes its shared definitions in the domain. It is con- next states by following physical laws. Info- trolled in the sense that only the thesuarus' computationalism thus appears as a conjunc- terms could be used to describe a resource. tion of two theses: one about processes (com- This principle guarantees uniqueness in the re- putation) – pancomputationalism (see e.g. lationship concept-term. As a tool to control Chaitin, 2009) and one about structure (infor- terminology it has the following term types: mation) – paninformationalism (see Floridi, 2008). ― Descriptors (terms used to represent the concepts within the domain). What makes info-computationalist naturalism ― Non-descriptors (terms from the domain a promising research programme is, according that have an equivalent in the list of de- to (Dodig-Crnkovic and Müller, 2010): scriptors. These terms are not used to rep- ― Unlike mechanicist paradigm, info-compu- resent documents, using the equivalent de- tationalist naturalism has the ability to scriptor). tackle as well fundamental physical struc- Descriptors are related by means of: tures as life phenomena within the same conceptual framework. The observer is an ― Hierarchical and associative relationships integral part of the info-computational uni- ― Equivalence relationship to relate De- verse. (See Dodig-Crnkovic, 2010) scriptors and Non-descriptors. ― Integration of scientific understanding of References the structures and processes of life with the ― LANCASTER, F. W. (2003) El control del vocabulario rest of natural world will help to achieve en la recuperación de información. 2ª ed. Valencia: Uni- “the unreasonable effectiveness of mathe- versitat de Valencia. matics” (or computing in general) even for ― MOREIRO GONZALEZ, J. A. (2004). El Contenido de los documentos textuales: su análisis y representación me- complex phenomena of biology that today diante el lenguaje natural. Gijón: TREA lack mathematical effectiveness (Gelfand) – ― ROE, S.; THOMAS, A. (eds.) (2004). The thesaurus: in sharp contrast to physics (Wigner). review, renaissance and revision. New York: The Hawoeth Information Press. ― Info-computationalism (which presup- ― SLYPE, G. Van (1991). Los lenguajes de indización: con- poses pancomputationalism and paninfor- cepción, construcción y utilización en los sistemas documenta- mationalism) presents a unifying frame- les. Madrid: Fundación Sánchez Ruipérez. work for common knowledge production (JAM) in many up to know unrelated research fields. Present day narrow specialization into various isolated research fields has led to the alarming impoverishment of the common world view. glossariumBITri 113 INFOMORPHISM ― Our existing computing devices are a subset Referencias of a set of possible physical computing ma- ― DODIG-CRNKOVIC G. and MÜLLER V. (2010). chines, and Turing Machine model is a sub- A Dialogue Concerning Two World Systems: Info- set of envisaged more general natural com- Computational vs. Mechanistic. In G. Dodig-Crn- putational models. Advancement of our kovic and M. Burgin (eds.) (2010). Information and computing methods beyond the Turing- Computation. World Scientific Publishing Co. Series in Information Studies. [Online Preprint] Church paradigm will result in computing 114 glossariumBITri INFON y A x < 116 glossariumBITri INFORMATION AESTHETICS But in all cases if the stimulus is any element figure without a background. Köhler, in his in- or agent that stimulates, provoking a reaction vestigations about the primate reasoning, con- in the body, whereas sensation in the impres- cludes that learning is not the result of a sion produced, then it is expected that any method of experiment and error, as the behav- quantitative formula intending to measure iourist thesis said. On the contrary it showed sensation will reduce its applicability hindering spontaneously and suddenly. any comparison between stimulus (the ap- Karl Bühler, who had also been formed in the plicability depends on the determination of Weimar school, develops a complete theory the field, which nowaday runs the risk to be about language. He analyzes the sign from the restricted to the fields of media and ICTs). point of view of the speaker, of the listener A bit later, W. Wundt, follower of the ideas and the referent and he established three re- of Helmholtz, gave the first steps through the spective functions of language: the representa- door that the previous physiological method tion, expression, and appeal. His pupil Karl has opened. He not only gave psychology a Popper adds a new one: the argumentative. method but also he gave it the scientific char- As they established relations on the way the acter that it has currently. On the one hand he brain orders thought, the development of the analyzes the sensations with comparative sys- structuralism was near. tems that play with a reality that is supposed The analysis of the configurations through to be objective, and on the other one he ana- which the human being discovers reality is sci- lyzes the subjective sensation that provokes in entific, but we cannot forget that to do it we people. His new structuralist idea would gen- need to leave the logic of the speech. That is erate a long list of followers. to say, formal analysis needs to be articulated While this was happening in Leipzig, in Wei- by rules that are beyond it for both, Science mar the chool of psychology of the Gestalt and Language, need rules to be articulated and was being founded: M. Wertheimer, W. Köh- because of it they have a determinist character. ler, K. Koffka and K. Lewin will say to the The basis of the problem is in the final profile world that perceptions are not a group of iso- of some tools that are really hermetic, in the lated images but they consist of configurations case of the formal definitions in general as well that function as structured unities. Max as in their symbolic side. R. Jakobson, using Wertheimer, creator of the school, shows a again the mathematic theories of information whole series of innate laws that organize per- of Shannon and Weaver and influenced by ception. Koffka analyzes the way in which the Bühler’s ideas, develops a linear model of human being and the environment interplay to communication where he describes six func- develop a theory of the human behaviour. K. tions of language (referential, emotive, cona- Lewin starts from the idea of gestalt, which tive, phatic, metalingual, and poetic) related to first differentiates the figure from the back- the six basic elements of the communicative ground. He develops his theory according to process (context, sender, receiver, message, the idea of environment that functions as the common code and contact) framework in which the human being devel- It is from scientific and mathematical theories ops. For that he takes from Physics the con- and languages that E. Cassirer takes the con- cept of field, understood as the place where cept of function to develop a philosophy of the particles interplay. For him the behaviour symbolic forms. The human capability of be- is a functionbetween the person and the envi- ing able to name, turns reality into a symbolic ronment: C = f(p.a). This communion shows concept and becomes part of it. That data that it is impossible the conception of the hu- originates complex symbolic forms integrated man knowledge without taking into account in all areas and functions of the human being. the field, and also that it cannot be thought a This integration creates perceptions which glossariumBITri 117 INFORMATION AESTHETICS separate from prior data. Critical thinking does For M. Bense the aesthetic aspect of the com- not come with reason but with its cultural as- municative process belongs to its own physi- pect. It is a criticism to knowledge which is cal support. In his Aesthetic of information he created as a historic criticism that enriches pre- criticizes the arbitrariness and limits that the vious meanings constantly. application of Birkhoff’s formula shows, em- phasizing the order version of S. Maser. In the G. Birkhoff approaches to aesthetics through new formula the amount of complexity as- mathematical studies on music and geometric. pects will be taken into account. His work is In the thirties, he published his book Aesthetic completed by a theory about text, chosen as Measure that shows the quotient between the an example of order and display of aesthetic order and the complexity: elements. M=O/C Both notions come from a rereading of the idea of symmetry, of repetition, of regularity. If order refers to the regularity of elements of an image, the complexity refers to the number of elements that form that image. His work begins the interest for the quantitative and mathematic formalization of the aesthetic as- pects generating a way that will be followed by authors such as A. Moles, M. Bense o R. Arn- heim, among others. Regarding A. Moles, he mixes technical, phys- Figure 1: Communicative system taken of A. Moles; B. ical and philosophical knowledge with some Vallancien (1963) aspects of structuralism with the human be- haviour in the communicative process to de- velop his sociological and statistical studies. In his book The physical structure of the musical and phonetic signal, of the year 1952, he analyzed how a signal becomes lower till it isn’t per- ceived. Six years later he published Theory of the information and aesthetic perception where his deductions began in the road of measurability designed by Weber and in the theory of behaviour of Pavlov. In his work it is shown up the interaction between the se- Figure 2: Communicative system in M. Bense (1972). mantic and static aspects of the message. He works on concepts such as the greatest infor- The anthropological turning is due to H.-G. mation, the originality, the complexity and the Gadamer based on Dilthey, Husserl or redundancy. His gestalt approach of the form Heidegger´s phenomenology. From his her- develops a sense of unity that follows param- meneutic perspective, he criticizes the limits of eters contrary to chance. His structuralist the scientific method when being applied to method analyzes the communicative action the study of interactions within the communi- within a context in which he places a sender cative process. Understanding stops being an and a receiver that share the same language aspect of behavior to become the individual and, for that, the same index and a common behavior of a person who is trying to interpret code, emphasizing original, understandable and foreseeable elements. 118 glossariumBITri INFORMATION AESTHETICS his reality. He looks into the sifnificant struc- aesthetic information. In psychology, R. Arn- tures on knowledge, analyses the person´s ex- heim says that the human being approaches istence and leaves behind the exact method, to reality through his senses thanks to forms inflexible and out of its context. of perception. In fact, perception and knowledge are deeply united. The very sensi- In the 60s the Frankfurt School is formed. A tivity is the one that develops intelligence. group of left-wing thinkers from different dis- ciplines, Th. W. Adorno, J. Habermas, M. In the semiotic method data do not have im- Horkheimer and F. Oppenheimer, who un- portance or order till they do not have mean- dertake some social studies which criticize the ing. Ch. Morris studies the role of the receiver political tradition of the time, although with as the one who interprets the signs of lan- no common criteria. Th. W. Adorno, who be- guage. If the aesthetic measure of Birkhoff longs to the dialectical method, studies the seemed a bit simple, the value of the iconic limits of critical thinking, taking into account sign of Morris is quite complicated. His quali- the media pressure that the person has to un- tative analysis is left for the aspects of the dergo in an industrialized society, which is cul- speech. As the study begins to take into ac- turally deshumanized and which creates a gen- count the figure of the person who interprets, uine pressure that deprives ideologies. Follow- his behaviour starts to be more important and ing Horkheimer, he forms a social criticism in impairs the semantic aspect of the study. U. which he confronts the ideal being with the Eco develops and generalizes the semiotic an- real one. Reason can´t be historic, there´s al- alyzes as communicative facts related to all so- ways a criticism. ciety. J. Habermas goes further. He creates the References Theory of Communicative Action confront- ― ADORNO, TH. W. (1970). Ästhetische Theorie. ing two rationalities: on the one hand, the sub- Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp. stantive according to the internal perspective ― ARNHEIM, R. (1969). Visual Thinking. California: of the human being and, on the other, the in- University of California Press, Berkeley & Los stitutionalized system according to an external Ángeles. ― ABRIL, G. (1997). Teoría general de la Información. Ma- perspective, which is shown through its struc- drid: Cátedra. tures and complex formal processes. In this ― ÁLVAREZ, LL. X. (1986). Signos estéticos y teoría framework the rules of the communicative ac- crítica de las ciencias del arte. Barcelona: Anthropos. tion show behaviours which must be analysed ― BENSE, M. (1969). Einführung in die informationstheoretische Äesthetik. Hamburg: Ro- from the different positions of the subjectivist wohlt. methods. ― BIRKHOFF, G. D. (1933). Aesthetic Measure. Cam- bridge: Harvard University Press. The Constance School, with Jauss and other ― BÜHLER, K. (1934). Sprachtheorie. Die researchers, will study the texts focusing on Darstellungsfunktion der Sprache. Jena: Verlag von Gus- the analysis of form and content. It is not a tav Fischer. matter of reaching a unique truth; the commu- ― BÜRGER, P. et al. (1987). Estética de la recepción. Ma- drid: ARCO. nicative process constantly enriches reality. ― CASSIRER, E. (1923-1929). Philosophie der H.-R. Jauss, influenced by structuralism, symbolischen Formen. (1. Die Sprache, 1923; 2. Das shows how meanings separate from the per- mythische Denken, 1925; 3. Phänomenologie der son through history. That is why he explains Erkenntnis, 1929). Berlin: B. Cassirer. the need of an interpretive hermeneutic ― DRETSKE, F. I. (1981). Knowledge and the Flow of In- formation. Cambridge, Mass: The MIT Press/Brad- method which provides the text with sense ford-Books. away from a historic vision. ― EAGLETON, T. (1990). The Ideology of the Aesthetic. Oxford: Blackwell. The second half of the XXth century brings ― GADAMER, H.-G. (1964). “Ästhetik und out some different points of view about the Hermeneutik”. Gesammelte Werke 8. Mohr: Tübingen. glossariumBITri 119 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICT) ― GOMBRICH, E. H.; HOCHBERG, J. y BLACK, This term is used to refer to informatics con- M. (1972). Art, Perception and Reality. Baltimore: The nected to the Internet and especially the social Johns Hopkins University Press. ― GUSKI, R. (2000 [1989]). Wahrnehmung. Eine aspect. These technologies can be used for ed- Einführung in die Psychologie der menschlichen ucational purposes and cultural global promo- Informationsaufnahme. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer. tion as well. ― HABERMAS, J. (1981). Theorie des kommunikativen Handelns (I y II). Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp. Technologies dealing with the treatment of in- ― JAUSS, H. R. (1977). Ästhetische Erfahrung und formation offer a special service to society Literarische Hermeneutik. München: Fink. since they make possible activities like re- ― MAQUET, J. (1986). The Aesthetic Experience. An Anthropologist Looks at the Visual Arts. Yale: Yale searching, organizing, and handling data, in- University Press. formation and knowledge along with other ― MCLUHAN, M. (1964). Understanding media; the ex- electronic media like the cell phone, fax, Inter- tensions of man. New York: McGraw-Hill. net and television. This media have produced ― MOLES, A. (1972). Théorie de l’information et a significantcultural change as long as -in prin- perception esthétique. Paris: Denoël. ― MUKAROVSKI, J. (1936). Aesthetic Function, Norm ciple- people have access to real knowledge, and Value as Social Facts. Ann Arbor: Michigan Slavic assets and intangible cultural values. ICT is not Publications. egalitarian. It is prevalent in wealthy countries, ― PERNIOLA, M. (1997). L’estética del Novecento. Bo- especially among upscale social groups as a logna: Il Mulino. mechanism to replicate inequality. However, ― PLAZAOLA, J. (1999). Introducción a la estética. Histo- ria, Teoría, Textos. Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto. there is a difference with regards to traditional ― POPPER, K. R. (1973). Objective Knowledge: An Evolu- inequalities: ICT penetrates faster and tionary Approach. Oxford: Clarendon Press. stronger among young people. What we know ― SCHAEFFER J.-M. (2000). Adieu à l’esthétique. Paris: as the →digital divide does express these ine- PUF. qualities. This information society exclusion is ― VILLAFAÑE, J. y MÍNGUEZ, N. (2000). Principios de la Teoría General de la Imagen. Madrid: Pirámide. no other than a new way to segregate people. This can be called digital marginalization. This (JGS –ed-; JGS, JMD) marginalization is the result of the technology revolution. Evidently, this is not resolved by INFORMATION AND COMMUNICA- connecting computers in a network since core TION TECHNOLOGIES (ICT) (S. problems may remain the same. These prob- Tecnologías de la Información y las lems are amplified by the access to different Comunicaciones –TICs, F. Technologies de avenues to grow faster excluding even more l'Information et de Communication -, G. developing countries. This asks for resolving Information- und Kommunikationstechnologien) essential rights to favour integral individual [Transdisciplinar, Information Society] concept, self-improvement allowing the participation in discipline, resource current changes in nourishment, education, health, and work rights. Currently, our society is characterized by a growing and determinant emphasis on Knowledge production, diffusion and use infor-mation and knowledge in wealth should be transformed into the main growth production. This constitutes the so-called opportunity as farming or industrial produc- information age, information society or tions once were. Otherwise, we will have no knowledge-based soci-ety. This information other chance to participate in the knowledge age is characterized by the use, distribution, society and we will only become mere specta- storage and creation of new information tors. This issue is not really new. We have and knowledge resources through the found out that the development is the result application of information and of the knowledge that countries are able to communication technology (ICT). ICT is a generate, diffuse and manage. Nowadays, this set of advanced techniques, developments is so evident that differences are still raised ex- and devices that integrate functionalities to ponentially. infor-mation storage, processing and transmission. glossariumBITri 120 INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE Our times are the current stage of transfor- a way that they comply with criteria of usabil- mations and radical changes so relevant that ity and information retrieval. In other words, some people do not hesitate to claim we are it is a discipline that deals with structuring, or- living a third industrial revolution. This is no ganizing and tagging elements of informa- other than the so-called technology and com- tional environments to facilitate searching and munication information revolution. It goes retrieval of the contained information, thus along with a change in the knowledge system. improving the usefulness of information envi- For several decades now, the extent of tech- ronments by users. nology transformation has been influencing One of the main characteristics of the infor- the means for the creation, treatment and dif- mation architecture in an information envi- fusion of knowledge. We believe this may ronment (for instance, a web page) is that it is bring about a new digital knowledge age. usually not recognizable by the users. In other References words, such architecture is invisible to the ― Becerra, M. (s.f.) La sociedad de la información: lección bá- user, though there are in fact a number of (not sica. Portal de la Comunicación, Universidad Autó- visible) articulated systems or structures, de- noma de Barcelona, UAB. [En línea] fining the information architecture of, for ex- ― MORVILLE, Peter and ROSENFELD, Louis Half a century after Wiener’s seminal work the (2006). Information Architecture for the World World Summit on the Information Society Wide Web. 3rd Edition. Sebastopol (CA): O’Reilly Media Inc. (WSIS) developed the vision ― PÉREZ-MONTORO, Mario (2010). Arquitectura “[…] to build a people-centred, inclusive and devel- de la Información en entornos web. Gijón: Trea. ― WODTKE, Cristina (2002). Information Architec- opment-oriented Information Society, where every- ture: Blueprints for the Web. Boston: New Riders one can create, access, utilize and share information Publishing. and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities (MPM. –ed.-; MPM., MG) and peoples to achieve their full potential in promot- ing their sustainable development and improving their quality of life, premised on the purposes and INFORMATION ETHICS (S. ética de la principles of the Charter of the United Nations and información, F. étique de l'information, G. respecting fully and upholding the Universal Decla- Informationethik) [information society] discipline ration of Human Rights.” (WSIS 2003). Contents.— 1) Introduction, 2) The Global Impact of The WSIS also proposed a political agenda, ICT on Society and the Environment, 3) Digital Media namely Ethics: an intercultural concern, 4) Towards a common world: new risks, new responsability “[…] to harness the potential of information and communication technology to promote the develop- Digital ethics or information ethics in a broader sense deals with the impact of digital Information ment goals of the Millennium Declaration, namely and Communication Technologies (ICT) on the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; our societies and the environment at large. In achievement of universal primary education; promo- a narrower sense information ethics (or digital tion of gender equality and empowerment of women; media ethics) addresses ethical questions deal- reduction of child mortality; improvement of mater- ing with the internet and internet-worked in- nal health; to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and formation and communication media such as other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainabil- mobile phones and navigation services. As we ity; and development of global partnerships for de- will argue, issues such as privacy, information velopment for the attainment of a more peaceful, just overload, internet addiction, digital divide, and prosperous world.” (WSIS 2003). surveillance and robotics, which are topics of The academic as well as the social debates on prevailing discussion, requires an intercultural these issues have increased rapidly particularly scrutiny. Information Ethics is posed as an en- since the rise of the Internet. Digital ethics or deavour to cope with the challenging prob- information ethics can be considered in a narrower lems of our digital age. sense as dealing with the impact of digital ICT on society and the environment at large as well 1. Introduction. Since the second half of the as with ethical questions dealing with the In- last century computer scientists, such as Norb- ternet digital information and communication ert Wiener (1989/1950) and Joseph Weizen- media (digital media ethics) in particular. In- baum (1976), called public’s attention to the ethical challenges immanent in computer tech- formation ethics in a broader sense deals with in- formation and communication including -but nology that can be compared in their social rel- not limited to- the digital media. evance to the ambivalent promises of nuclear energy. In the beginning the discussion was 2. The global impact of ICT on society and focused on the moral responsibility of com- the environment. Economic, political and puter professionals. But for scientists like Wie- ecological activities of modern societies rely ner and Weizenbaum the impact of computer heavily on digital communication networks. technology was understood to be something The relevance of digital ICT on the that concerned society as a whole. economy became obvious with the burst of the 2000 dot.com bubble. Its close dependence with the 122 glossariumBITri INFORMATION ETHICS financialisation of economy as well as the ICTs are widely used for political participation transformation of economical activities in the and grass-roots protest groups as well as by last two decades leading to a increasing glob- liberation and peace movements. By the same alisation of the economical structure token, digital communication networks make (Estefanía 1996, Ramonet 2004, Castells 2007) possible new structures of political surveil- lead us to consider ICT as one of the main fac- lance, censorship and control on individuals tors leading to the recent world economic cri- and whole societies. Digital ethics should ad- sis (Bond 2008). Beyond the moral individual dress the question of the human right to com- responsibility of politicians, bankers and man- municate (→Critical Theory of Information). agers, there is a systemic issue that has to do The Internet has become a local and global with the digitalization of communication and basic social communication infrastructure. information in finances and economics. Digi- Freedom of access should be considered a tal capitalism was and is still able to bypass na- fundamental ethical principle similar to free- tional and international law, control and mon- dom of speech and freedom of the press. itoring institutions and mechanisms as well as Some of the rights stated in the Universal Dec- codes of practice and good governance lead- laration of Human Rights such as the right to ing to a global crisis of trust not only within freedom of thought, conscience and religion the system but with regard to the system itself. (Art. 18), the right to freedom of opinion and Many experts in politics and economic agree expression (Art. 19), and the right to peaceful that in order to develop a people-oriented and assembly and association (Art. 20) need to be sustainable world economic system, national explicitly interpreted and defined taking the and international monitoring agencies as well new and unique affordances of internet- as international laws and self-binding rules are worked digital media into consideration. Law- needed. Academic research in digital ethics rence Lessig (1999) envisaged a situation in should become a core mandatory issue of eco- which the universality of Cyberspace is endan- nomics and business studies. Similarly to the gered by local codes of the market, the soft- already well established bioethics committees, ware industry, the laws of nation states, and ethical issues of ICT should be addressed tak- moral traditions. He writes: ing as a model for instance the European “If we do nothing, the code of cyberspace will change. Group on Ethics in Science and New Tech- The invisible hand will change it in a predictable nologies to the European Commission (EGE; way. To do nothing is to embrace at least that. It is Capurro 2004). to accept the changes that this change in code will ICT has a deep impact on politics leading to bring about. It is to accept a cyberspace that is less a transformation of 20th century broadcast free, or differently free, than the space it was before.” mass media based democracy, or mediocracy, on (Lessig 1999, 109) the basis of new kinds of digital-mediated in- A free Internet can foster peace and democ- teractive participation. New interactive media racy but it can also be used for manipulation weakens the hierarchical one-to-many struc- and control. For this reason, a necessity to ture of traditional global mass-media, giving strive for a future internet governance regime individuals, groups, and whole societies the ca- on the basis of intercultural deliberation, dem- pacity to become senders and not “just” re- ocratic values and human rights has been ceivers of messages (→message, dialogic vs discur- pointed out (Senges and Horner 2009, sive). Capurro 2010). We live in message societies. I call the science Another issue arisen in contemporary societies dealing with messages and messengers angelet- concerns the impact of the materialities of ics (from Greek: άγγελία/άγγελος = message/ ICT on nature and natural resources. Elec- messenger) (Capurro 2003, →angeletics). New tronic waste has become major issue of digital glossariumBITri 123 INFORMATION ETHICS ethics (IRIE 2009). It deals with the disposal An example of the relevance of the intercul- and recycling of all kinds of ICT devices that tural approach in digital media ethics is the dis- already today have devastating consequences cussion on the concept of privacy from a on humans and the environment particularly Western vs. a Buddhist perspective. While in when exported to Third World countries. Is- Western cultures privacy is closely related to sues of sustainability and global justice should the self having an intrinsic value, Buddhism re- be urgently addressed together with the op- lies on the tenet of non-selfand therefore the so- portunities offered by the same media to pro- cial perception as well as the concept of pri- mote better shelter, less hunger and combat vacy are different (Nakada and Tamura 2005; diseases. In other words, I advocate for the ex- Capurro 2005). However, a justification of pri- pansion of the human rights discourse to in- vacy from a Buddhist perspective based on the clude the rights of non-human life and nature. concept of compassion seems possible and plau- The present ecological crisis is a clear sign that sible (Hongladarom 2007). we have to change our lives in order to be- Digital surveillance of public spaces is sup- come not masters but stewards of natural en- posed to ensure safety and security facing un- vironment. intentional or intentional dangers for instance 3. Digital media ethics: an intercultural from criminal or terrorist attacks. But at the concerní. The main topics of digital media same time it threatens autonomy, anonymity ethics or digital (information) ethics com- and trust that build the basis of democratic so- monly addressed are: intellectual property, pri- cieties (RISEPTS 2009). New technologies al- vacy, security, information overload, digital di- lowing the tracking of individuals through vide, gender discrimination, and censorship RFID or ICT implants are similarly ambigu- (Ess, 2009; Himma and Tavani 2008). How- ous with regard to the implicit dangers and ever a more critical reflection -as previously ar- benefits. Therefore they need special scrutiny gued- should also embrace issues concerning: and monitoring (EGE 2005). economical responsibility, political participa- Recent advances in robotics show a wide tion and materialities of ICT. range of applications in everyday lives beyond All these topics are objects of ethical scrutiny their industrial and military applications not only on the basis of universal rights and (ETHICBOTS 2008). Robots are mirrors of principles but also with regard to cultural dif- ourselves. What concepts of sociality are con- ferences as well as to historical and geograph- ceptualized and instantiated by robotics? An ical singularities leading to different kinds of intercultural ethical dialogue – beyond the theoretical foundations and practical options. question of a code of ethics to become part of This field of ethics research is now being robots making out of them “moral machines” called intercultural information ethics (Wallach and Allen 2009) – on human-robot (Capurro 2008; Hongladarom and Ess 2007; interaction is still in its infancy (Capurro and Capurro 2006; →Intercultural Information Eth- Nagenborg 2009, →roboethics). ics). Another example is the question of infor- One important challenge in this regard is the mation overload, which has a major impact question about how human cultures can flour- in the everyday life of millions of people in in- ish in a global digital environment while avoid- formation-rich societies (Capurro 2005b) giv- ing uniformity or isolation. Research networks ing rise to new kinds of diseases and challeng- on Information Ethics are flourishing in Af- ing also medical practice (Capurro 2009). We rica (ANIE: African Network for Information lack a systematic pathology of information so- Ethics: ANIE) and Latin America (RELEI: cieties. Similarly the question of internet ad- Red Latinoamericana de Ética de la Infor- diction particularly in young generations, is mación). worrisome. For example there is a growing 124 glossariumBITri INFORMATION ETHICS need for cell-phones-free times and places, in should be taken into account when envisaging order to protect ourselves from the imperative new possibilities of freedom and peace in a of being permanently available. world shaped more and more by digital tech- nology. The ethical reflection on these issues belongs to a theory of the art of living following some In a recent report on “Being Human: Human- paths of thought by French philosopher computer interaction in the year 2020,” a re- Michel Foucault. He distinguishes the follow- sult of a meeting organized by Microsoft Re- ing kinds of technologies, namely: search in 2007, the editors write: "technologies of production, which permit us to “The new technologies allow new forms of produce, transform, or manipulate things," control or decentralisation, encouraging some forms of social interaction at the expense of "technologies of sign systems, which permit us to others, and promoting certain values while use signs, meanings, symbols, or significa- dismissing alternatives. For instance, the iPod tions," can be seen as a device for urban indifference, "technologies of power which determine the con- the mobile phone as promoting addiction to duct of individuals and submit them to certain social contact and the Web as subverting tra- ends or domination, an ditional forms of governmental and media au- thority. Neural networks, recognition algo- "technologies of the self, which permit individuals rithms and data-mining all have cultural impli- to effect by their own means or with the help cations that need to be understood in the of others a certain number of operations on wider context beyond their technical capabili- their own bodies and souls, thoughts, conduct, ties. The bottom line is that computer technol- and way of being, so as to transform them- ogies are not neutral – they are laden with hu- selves in order to attain a certain state of hap- man, cultural and social values. These can be piness, purity, wisdom, perfection, or immor- anticipated and designed for, or can emerge tality." (Foucault 1988, 18) and evolve through use and abuse. In a multi- How can we ensure that the benefits of infor- cultural world, too, we have to acknowledge mation technology are not only distributed eq- that there will often be conflicting value sys- uitably, but that they can also be used by the tems, where design in one part of the world people to shape their own lives? (Capurro becomes something quite different in another, 2005a; See also Capurro 1996; 1995; 1995a). and where the meaning and value of a technol- Another important issue of digital media eth- ogy are manifest in diverse ways. Future re- search needs to address a broader richer con- ics concerns the so-called digital divide should not be considered just a problem of cept of what it means to be human in the flux technical access to the Internet but an issue of of the transformation taking place.” (Harper, how people can better manage their lives using Rodden, Rogers and Sellen 2008, 57) new interactive digital media avoiding the dan- This remarkable quote from a meeting orga- gers of cultural exploitation, homogenization, nized not by anti-tech humanists, but by one colonialism, and discrimination. Individuals as of the leading IT companies, summarizes the well as societies must become aware of differ- main present and future tasks of digital ethics ent kinds of assemblages between traditional as a critical interdisciplinary and intercultural and digital media according to their needs, in- on-going reflection on the transformation of terests and cultural backgrounds (Ong and humanity through computer technology. Collier 2005). An inclusive information society as developed during the WSIS must be global 4. Towards a common world: new risks, Humanity is experienc- and plural at the same time. Concepts likehy- new responsibility. ing itself particularly through the digital me- bridization or polyphony are ethical markers that dium as a totality or system of interrelations. glossariumBITri 125 INFORMATION ETHICS Who are we and what do we want to be as hu- and with the world. This implies allowing each manity? This question asks for a historical not other to articulate ourselves in the digital net- a metaphysical answer. A negative vision of work, while taking care of historical, cultural such unity are balkanisations and imperialisms and geographical singularities. An ethical in- of all kinds, including digital ones. tercultural dialogue is needed in order to un- derstand and foster human cultural diversity. Whereas the digital technologies might dimin- Hereby we must look for common ethical ish “vulnerability and commitment” (Dreyfus principles so that digital cultures can become 2001), the global challenges (as those gathered a genuine expression of human liberty and cre- in the UN Millennium Goals), bring about un- ativity. predictable dangers in which information technologies are undoubtedly involved (in References both positive and negative aspects), and claim for a renewal of responsibility, regarding what ― ANIE (African Network for Information Ethics) 126 glossariumBITri INFORMATION ETHICS ― CAPURRO, Rafael (2004). Ethics between Law and In: Soraj Hongladarom and Charles Ess (Eds.): Infor- Public Policy. Journal of International Biotechnology Law mation Technology Ethics: Cultural Perspectives. Hershey: (JIBL) Vol. 1, Issue 2, 2004, 62-66. Idea Group, 108-122. ― CAPURRO, Rafael (2003). Angeletics – A Message ― IRIE (2009). Network Ecologies: Ethics of Waste in the Theory. In: Hans H. Diebner, Lehan Ramsay (Eds.): Information Society. Vol. 11. [Online] INFORMATION LITERACY (S. procedures, and attitudes involved in the pro- alfabetización informacional, F. Maîtrise de cess of searching, obtaining, assessing, using l'information, G. Informationskompetenz) [ICT, and communicating information through information society, globalisation, education] online and mainstream media. Literacy in in- concept formation is a set of abilities that enable peo- ple “to recognize when information is needed Several terms such as information literacy, lit- and have the capacity to locate, evaluate and eracy in information and development of in- use effectively the needed information” (ALA, formation skills or information competencies 1989). Literacy in information exceeds the are used interchangeably to identify compe- concept related to user training and it affects tencies, skills, aptitudes, knowledge, personal content as well as pedagogy. It entails the de- experiences and required values to access, use, velopment of technical skills required to ac- and communicate information in any medium cess, analyze and assess information (Aragón, (digital or paper) for academic, research, pro- 2005). fessional or entertainment purposes. Overall, the term “alfabetización”, a transla- Translating this term into Spanish has brought tion from the English word “literacy”, is ap- about different concepts and definitions such plied to the capacity to use different media, as information competencies (competencias technologies or languages. Thus, we can talk informacionales), information literacy about technology literacy (capacity to handle (alfabetización informacional), literacy in in- information technology and communication), formation (alfabetización en información). digital (hypertext media domain and Internet), However, the term most frequently used in audiovisual literacy (capacity to understand Spanish is “desarrollo de habilidades informa- and criticize audiovisual media and languages), tivas” (development of information skills) scientific literacy (science domain and its (Lau, 2006). To refer to information literacy in mechanisms to create, transmit and apply in- Spanish, the acronym ALFIN is generally formation) among others. A crucial objective used. This acronym was coined by Félix Be- of lifelong literacy entails digital and IN- nito in 1995. In English, the acronym IN- FOLIT basic read-write literacy integrating FOLIT is generally used. this with lifelong learning. Information literacy is considered a means to develop one of UNESCO’s four pillars for ed- References ucation in the 21st century: learning to know ― AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. PRESI- about something, long life learning, training DENTIAL COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION LITERACY. (1989). Final Report 1989. [Online] people to manage information needs to 128 glossariumBITri INFORMATION FLOW xico: IFLA, Universidad Veracruzana. glossariumBITri 129 INFORMATION FLOW Contents.— 1) Information and information flow, 2) whenever the flow of information is on the fo- Defining information flow. cus two typical problems arise immediately: There is no standard definition of "infor- Is it required the existence of agents for the mation flow", and neither there is of "infor- flow of information to take place? Usually this mation". Nevertheless, in ordinary life we question is answered in an affirmative manner. seem to be in agreement with the meanings of Situation theory gives for granted their exist- information and information flow. A major ence in despite of some occasional debate on problem is to know whether information flow this matter. Channel theory (Barwise and is a concept or a metaphor. Here we are going Seligman 1997), on the contrary, doesn't men- to assume it is a concept. tion agents very frequently. Dretske (1981) is While the concept of information is quite dif- not completely clear. On the one hand he de- ficult to grasp, a definition of information flow fines the flow of information through the no- in terms of information should not be that tion of an external observer: "A state of affairs hard. Therefore, in this entry we propose an contains information about X to just that ex- informal definition of information flow from tent of which a suitable placed observer could the starting point of some elementary con- learn something about X by consulting it" cepts in a well-established theory of semantic (Dretske 1981: 45); on the other hand, he information: situation theory (Barwise and states that information is an agent-independ- Perry 1983; Barwise 1989; Devlin 1991). ent phenomenon. Floridi (2005) distinguishes between semantic information (which is agent-de- 1. Information and information flow. Situa- pendent) and environmental information (which is tion theory distinguishes between information agent-independent). and information flow (Devlin 1991: 142-144). The basic assumption is that information is How to explain the properties of the flow of abstract and can be used for classifying con- information? Pérez-Montoro (2007) offers a crete states of affairs. On this assumption is comprehensive discussion of both these prop- built up the following distinction: erties: relativity (the same state of affairs might carry different pieces of information to differ- There is information about a state of affairs as ent agents), and fallibility (sometimes a state of long as we can classify it by means of abstract affairs do not carry the information it is sup- states, such as vectors, time periods or logical posed to carry). Almost any author tries to ex- formulae. We then say that the state of af- plain those properties, which in turn exhibit fairssupports certain information. Example: we different names as well as diverse formula- have information about the waitress in that we tions. know that his hands are muddy. 2. Defining information flow. Now then, There is flow of information from one state of af- neither in situation theory nor in further theo- fairs to another as long as some way of classi- ries information flow is defined as such. It is fying the first one indicates some way of clas- only said that there is flow of information sifying the second. Then we say that the first whenever some states of affairs carry infor- state of affairs carries information about the mation about each other. A definition of in- second one. Example: the fact that the wait- formation flow must be therefore based on ress' hands are muddy carries the information the concept of information. that my plate is possibly muddy. If we call "distributed system" to any collec- In theories prior to situation theory this dis- tion of states of affairs that are able of carrying tinction was not always taken into account. information about each other (Barwise and Neither it is clearly stated in recent proposals Seligman 1997), and we call "information like that of Floridi (2005). On the other hand, transfer" to the fact that -with respect to a dis- 130 glossariumBITri INFORMATION REPORTS tributed system- a state of affairs actually in- than information source S2", "it is illegal that forms about another one, then we can define the a conceals from b the information p". flow of information within a distributed system as the In a narrow sense, an information report is any class of all its information transfers with respect to cer- report that (iii) either exhibits the form "signal tain analysis of the system as well as certain period of s carries the information p", (iv) or can be re- time. This definition has the advantage of con- phrased in such a form. forming with common sense and with some basic yet fundamental concepts of situation 2. Remarks. We are not dealing with standard theory. defitinitons as there is not a well established theory on information reports and their se- References mantics. The definition in a broad sense tries ― BARWISE, J. (1989). The situation in logic. Stanford: to gather diverse contributions of the tech- CSLI Publications. nical literature since at least Fox (1983). ― BARWISE, J. & PERRY, J. (1983). Situations and At- titudes. Cambridge, MA: Bradford Books / The MIT An information report in a narrow sense is but Press. a variety of information report in a broad ― BARWISE, J. & SELIGMAN, J. (1997). Information Flow. The Logic of Distributed Systems. Cambridge: sense. But the influence of Israel and Perry Cambridge University Press. (1991), where the former are defined, justifies ― DEVLIN, K. (1991). Logic and Information. Cam- the distinction. bridge: Cambridge University Press. ― DRETSKE, F. (1981). Knowledge and the Flow of Infor- The reduction from (ii) to (i) and from (iv) to mation. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. (iii) is not always so clear, therefore it is con- ― FLORIDI, L. (2005). Semantic Conceptions of Infor- venient to center on (i) and (iii) up to grasping mation. [Online]. Stanford: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. [En línea] 132 glossariumBITri INFORMATION RETRIVAL ― DRETSKE, F. I. (1981). Knowledge and the Flow of In- retrieval becomes the main goal of these tech- formation. Cambridge (Massachusetts): The MIT niques. Most of these tools look for finding Press. ― FLORIDI, L. (2006). "The logic of being in- words in common between the textual query formed".Logique et Analyse, Vol. 49(196), pp. 433- and textual documents. As multimedia re- 460. sources growths in Internet, search engines ― FOX, C. J. (1983). Information and Misinformation. begin to search audio, images, and video re- An Investigation of the Notions of Information, Misinformation, Informing, and Misinforming. sources. In the literature, document retrieval, Westport (Connecticut): Greenwood Press. text retrieval, information retrieval, and data ― GRICE, P. (1957). "Meaning". The Philosophical Re- retrieval are often employed as equivalents, view, Vol. 66, pp. 377-388. although, indeed, each one has a specific ― HENDRICKS, V. & SYMONS, J. (2009). Epistemic meaning. Logic. [Online]. Stanford: The Stanford Encyclope- dia of Philosophy (Spring 2009 Edition). Traditionally, in the Web context the answer Web. ― Noise: non-relevant data retrieved Automatic indexing deals with the techniques ― Silence: relevant data that have not been re- to assign automatically relevant terms to a trieved from the data base document. Relevance is computed by means Compute recall implies to know how many el- of statistics and the term location in the docu- ements are relevant to a specific query in the ment. Examples are term frequency and In- data base. This relevance list is called test col- verse Document Frequency (known as tf- lection, and it is made by-hand. Test-collec- IDF), stop-word removal or, higher weight of tions are used in international competitions to the words from the title or with stressed typo- test retrieval systems. TREC (Text Retrieval graphically (e.g. bold letters). Most of these Conference) is the best known conference factors are used in web search engines. about retrieval. 5. Information retrieval by controlled vo- 8. Retrieval Models. Retrieval models com- In Information Science, terms cabularies. pute the degree that certain elements answer from a specific domain often are listed, in a to a query. As a general rule it is computed by normalized way. This list is called controlled vocabulary, and each descriptor is known as descriptor. This vocabulary could present re- lationships among terms. Vocabulary control 134 glossariumBITri INFORMATIONAL CONTENT means of a similarity coefficient (Cosine, Phi, References etc). Most popular models are: ― SPENCE, Robert (2000). Information Visualization. ― Boolean: only two values are computed, rel- Pearson Education. ― CHEN, Chaomei (1999). Information Visualisation evant/non-relevant. Only relevant docu- and Virtual Environments. Springer Verlag ment are retrieved without any order. An ― WARE, Colin (2000). Information Visualization: example is SQL in relational data bases. Alt- Perception for Design. Morgan Kaufmann. hough there is an extended boolean model ― FEW, Stephen (2004). Show Me the Numbers. Oa- kland: Analytics Press. to provide a way to sort results. ― FEW, Stephen (2006). Information Dashboard De- ― Vectorial: A vector is built to represent the sign. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly. terms that every item has. The query vector ― TUFTE, Edward (1983). The Visual Display of and every document vector are compared, Quantitative Information. Cheshire, CT: Graphics measuring the grades that are between Press. ― TUFTE, Edward (1990). Envisioning Information. them. Cheshire, CT:Graphics Press. ― Probabilistic: the probability of a document ― TUFTE, Edward (1997). Visual Explanations. to answer to a query is computed. Often is Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press. used retrieval feedback to improve the ― TUFTE, Edward (2006). Beautiful Evidence. probability estimate. Feedback is based in Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press. user judgments about the set of document (MPM. –ed.-; MPM, MG) retrieved. Words from positive results are given a higher value when the query is INFORMATIONAL CONTENT (E. con- recomputed. tenido informacional, F. contenu informationelle, G. References Informationeller Inhalt) [semantics of infor- ― ANTONIOU, G., VAN HARMELEN, F. (2004). mation, situation theory] concepto A semantic Web Primer. Massachussets: MIT, 2004 The main references for the notion of infor- ― BAEZA-YATES, R., RIBEIRO-NETO, B. (1999). Modern information retrieval. New York: ACM Press; mational content are the works of Fred New York: Addison-Wesley. Dretske. According to him, the ideas of Shan- ― CLEVERDON, C.W. (1972). “On the inverse rela- non and Weber can be adapted in order to tionship of recall and precision”. Journal of Documen- characterize what can be the informational tation, Vol. 28, pp. 195-201. ― SPARK-JONES, K. (1997). Readings in information re- content of a given signal. Dretske’s proposal is trieval. edited by Karen Sparck Jones, Peter Willett. the following one. A signal s coming from a San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann. certain source S and registered by a certain sys- tem R having some knowledge K about S (for (JML) instance, that S can be F or G or H) would have the informational content that S is F if INFORMATION VISUALIZATION (S. and only if the probability that S is F, given s visualización de información, F. affichage d'informa- and K, is equal to 1. Other proposals have tions, G. anzeigen von Informationen) [Research been made in the context of teleosemantical and practices] concept approaches, like the one favoured by Millikan, Information Visualization is the discipline that and in the context of the “situation theory” deals with the visual representation of propo- elaborated by Barwise and Perry. sitional content by using charts, graphs and di- Because of the way they are defined, informa- agrams in order to facilitate the apprehension, tional contents would be very wide and they interpretation, transformation and communi- cannot be erroneous. In contrast with infor- cation of those contents through these visual mational content, →semantic content is very spe- representations. cific and it can be erroneous. In particular, that would be so with respect to the semantic con- tents associated with propositional attitudes. glossariumBITri 135 INFORMATIONISM Informational content would be converted the brain as tiny impulses –quanta or useful in- into a semantic content through the interven- formation–, hitting and activating the neu- tion of functions. When there is the function rones; as a consequence becoming quanta of of bearing some information in particular, useful information. Among other matters, hu- then informational content can be made nar- man neural evolution due to information, as row and the relevant information can be acti- well as other neural information theories are vated in an erroneous way. Dretske’s approach studied. considers three ways in which such functions 1. Introduction. In these historic times of can be introduced: 1) as some sorts of natural change in social structures, a transmutation functions selected by biological evolution, 2) process is taking place which affects all human as some sorts of attributed functions created manifestations. Its main influence can be seen by artificial design, and 3) as some sorts of in the conceptual principles related to the the- functions acquired by individual learning. oretical basis of many scientific disciplines. References Considered as a whole as an essential element, ― BARWISE, J. et al. (1991) Situation Theory and its information is also affected by the transmuta- Architecture. Stanford: Stanford Univ. Press. tions that are currently taking place. Neuronal ― BAR-HILLEL, Y. (1955) “An Examination of In- Information Assimilation theories are studied. formation Theory”, Philosophy of Science, 22. ― DRETSKE, F. (1980) Knowledge and the Flow of 2. Historic evolution. Descartes (1596- 1650 Information, Cambridge, MIT Press. AD) in his famous statement “I think,there- ― DRETSKE, F. (1988) Explaining Behaviour. Rea- fore I am”, he grants an absolute value to hu- sons in a World of Causes. Cambridge: MIT Press. ― DRETSKE, F. (1997) Naturalizing the Mind. man thinking, valid by itself; which confers na- Cambridge: MIT Press. ture to the being. This “thinking” is reached ― FLORIDI, L. (ed.) (2004) The Blackwell Guide to through a process of assimilation of infor- the Philosophy of Computing and Information. mation producing knowledge. The point of London: Blackwell. view of Cristoph Martin Wieland (1733-1813 ― MCLAUGHLIN, B. (ed.) (1991) Dretske and his Critics. Cambridge: Blackwell. AD) which deals with information, with the ― MILLIKAN, R. (1984) Language, Thought and understanding and the information of the Other Biological Categories. Cambridge: MIT Press. heart is also interesting. ― SHANNON, C. (1949) The Mathematical Theory of Communication. Champaingn-Urbana: Univ. of In the Oxford English Dictionary, there is a Illinois Press. great deal of definitions for information, da- ― VILLANUEVA, E. (ed.) (1990) Information, Se- ting from the XIV century. Apart from point- mantics and Epistemology. Oxford: Blackwell. ing out information as an element to form the (ML) mind, to teach and to learn, it mentions its function as an advice,as a warning; as well as in legal terms. INFORMATIONISM (S. informacionismo, F. Informationism, G. informationismswissenschaft) 3. Evolution in the XIX, XX and XXI cen- [transdisciplinary, ICT] theory turies. It may have been at the end of the 80’s Contents.— 1) Introduction, 2) Historic evolution, 3) in the XX century, - one has to be cautious Evolution in the XIX, XX and XXI centuries, 4) What with these statements - when the neurological is understood by “information”, 5) Neuronal theory: quanta connotations of information started to be of useful information. 6) Neuronal theories of information, studied as such - neural assimilation -, along 7) Other interesting theories, 8) Informationism: former the- with its connection with theology and herme- ories, 9) Informationism: a new theory of knowledge, 10) neutics. Conclusions. All these studies are carried out at the same An epistemology, based on the information time as the development of computerized that rules our lives, is stated –Informationism- . Information, or perhaps the message, reaches 136 glossariumBITri INFORMATIONISM communication techniques, computer science, when C. E. Shannon published his Theory of and all that is related to computational science. Information, which can be considered as the starting point. Somewhat later, in 1988, I had 4. What is understood by “information”. the satisfaction of releasing my theory of the Information is both “everything” and “noth- quanta of useful information. Since then, ing” at the same time. On the one hand, it is many different theories have been developed. indeed “everything”, due to the fact that, Most of them try to find some parallelism be- through its mental or physical use, one can tween the processes occurring in the brain and reach knowledge and, from that, taking as an the mechanisms carried out by computers; in example its most pragmatic sense, research, accordance with some programmes prepared science, wisdom and the truth - objective, rel- beforehand, in order to have the machine car- ative and conditioned truth -. From this rea- rying out the function for which it was manu- soning, it can be concluded that information factured (– by human beings – note of the au- has a transcendental connotation, given that, thor). Some authors think that the process has following the same line of thought; from truth been carried out the other way round; i.e. it one can reach evidence and certainty. was the machines’ operation that induced the 5. Neuronal theory: quanta of useful infor- thought of a similar operation in the brain. In mation. The theories stated the fact that im- any case, these theories have been developed pulses from the outside are received by neu- by different specialists and researchers of the rons, which thus start their activity. In other field of information science. words, neurons are activated, giving the indi- In order to study the mentioned process of vidual – the human being – a higher reasoning neuronal assimilation, we will expound some capacity and intelligence. relevant opinions, considered as the starting The signals coming from outside the brain point of subsequent researches. On the one formed small “quanta of information” which hand, John McHale considers information is a were immediately followed by the processes consumer good, which humans should use to mentioned above to develop knowledge and their benefit and to obtain better living stand- subsequently ideas, becoming “quanta of use- ards. He assumes living beings use their senses ful information”. And this is a phenomenon to collect information from the environment that has been occurring since Man became and the difference between human beings and Man, or maybe even before that. Helmut other living beings is that man can “process” Anntz affirms that hominid became human information consciously; humans use a system exactly due to the consecutive reception and of symbols to communicate with fellow men. assimilation of information, reaching its brain The author also mentions the changing and from the outside, from its environment. changeable environment of information - note of the author -; since he assumes that it is due 6. Neuronal theories of information. Therefore, we know that information is pro- to its influence and use that our life condi- tions, basic principles, cultural manifestations cessed - neuronal assimilation - when certain and so on vary. The use of information to a impulses, or quanta of useful information, greater or lesser extent measures the level of reach the brain, thus giving rise to knowledge: evolution of the human race. More informed a useable product. Several authors have done societies will have more possibilities for research on this significant subject and have choice. developed different theories which I can today describe as “neuronal theories of infor- On the other hand, Fred I. Dretske grants in- mation”. formation a holistic, primal and basic nature. He states that, in the beginning, there was in- In order to study some neuronal theories, one formation and the world came after it. The has to go back to the middle of the XX century transition, (perhaps better transmutation – glossariumBITri 137 INFORMATIONISM note of the author), was carried out through and thus comparing information with energy. the development of organisms with the ability The informative capacity of the brain, within of exploiting information in a selective way, the brain structure, is estimated to be gener- with the purpose of being able to survive and ated at approximately 109 bits/sec. However, endure as a species. Information reaches the when it reaches the conscious level it is only brain and affects and activates the neurons. about 100 bits/sec, which means there is a loss For a reaction to happen, the brain needs a of 107 bits/sec when going from the physio- reference scale; which is built through consec- logical to the psychological level. Human be- utive information reaching it from the outside ings have the capacity for a higher brain devel- world. These theories seem somehow inco- opment; to be more intelligent. The mecha- herent to me, since the question about the nism to go from the sphere of the “uncon- origin of information arises. If the world has scious” to the sphere of the “conscious” is risen from information, perhaps the idea of an missing. all-embracing creator loses strength… or is in- The theories of Brier will now be considered. formation then the creator? He deals with the interpretation of the mes- Another interesting researcher is Thomas J. sage, different from the information; in order Froelich, who deals with information as an el- to make it understandable and comprehensi- ement to develop knowledge, subsequently ble by the receiver. The brain, together with studying the latter. He states thought is not ab- the machine, is responsible for this compre- solute; it depends on the nature of each indi- hension, in which a cognitive process is in- vidual, on its reference system and on its set cluded. Brier, together with M. Leupolt and of values. Nothing new so far; but he carries other researchers, amongst whom I am in- on with the statement that thought can always cluded, is of the opinion that this cognitive and only be valid from the point of view of the process should be extended to every living be- individual thinking it. Therefore the famous ing, i.e. plants and animals. sentence of Descartes needs to be inverted, Alexander King assumes there is a series of thus considering: “I am, therefore I think”. phenomena, events and stages of understand- Thinking is a human activity and it implies in- ing, each of them at a higher and more com- formation as an element, cause and effect. plex level of abstraction, in order to reach the This activity grants a social function to think- “knowledge” of the world we live in, and to ing. Each society - social group - creates a dif- adapt our acts to this world. Information is in ferent form of knowledge and thought. every one of these stages, either as a base or as 7. Other interesting theories. Similarly, the a vehicle to pass from one level to the other. theories of R.M Berstrom are interesting. Ac- These theories are actually shared nowadays cording to him, humans behave as a commu- by several specialists and researchers. What nication system, at the centre of which is the was new about them was the historic moment brain. Here, the signals are received from the in which they appeared. Alexander King was outside and emitted to the outside. Infor- one of the pioneers and he is well known for mation is supposed to be the raw material to his many works and papers. develop these abilities. The author also states From the principal theories of Norbert Hen- one needs to make the difference between in- richs, it is worth mentioning here his interest formation and the processing of it. Through in the creative ability of human beings, which subsequent reasoning, the difference between enables them to reach science and, therefore, “information” and “information science” can wisdom. This author also focuses on the spir- be established. As several other authors main- itual attributes of information and, to a certain tain, Bergstom compares the brain with the degree, grants it theological connotations. machine - perhaps the computer -, stating that information is the raw material driving both 138 glossariumBITri INFORMATIONISM Amongst other opinions and research from mationism are now considered. Firstly, “cau- the theories of Peter Ingwersen, we could salism” which states there is no effect without stress those in which research is considered as a cause: effect = quanta of useful information the result of a modification of the structures reaching the brain; cause = knowledge. Real- of knowledge of who receives the information ism states that real objects are the base for – supposedly a human being. knowledge. Here, an idea corresponds to an object and the former has its origin in infor- From either point of view, neuronal theories mation, which will thus become the object. are based on the same principles and follow Positivism is the theory which matches the almost identical reasoning. Perhaps A. N. Le- best. It was devised by August Comte, and ontiev contributes with something new, by re- based on the concept that only the facts, im- lating information to conscience, and assum- mediately received by the senses and quantita- ing information is in fact the way in which tively verified, can generate knowledge. This conscience exist for the others. Apart from author also allows for a social attitude, given that, information is the link between individu- that the perception of the outside world may als; obviously in a process of communication. condition our behaviour. 8. Informationism: former theories. After In the past, perhaps since 1980 to mention a what has been written until now, it would guiding date, the chemical and spiritual com- seem unnecessary to continue justifying the ponents of human beings have been being possibility of formulating a new epistemology considered; this implies a change in the postu- based on information: informationism. How- lation of such theories. A modern theory of ever, it may be convenient to establish rela- knowledge has subsequently risen, based on tionships with other theories on knowledge the principle of “get to know you”, which has organization, in order to observe perhaps the lately gained great importance. This principle parallelism between these and information, studies and examines in human beings, both taken now as a mental process. physically and psychologically, in a neo-realis- On the one hand, information arrives to the tic attempt to turn the activities of the spirit brain, and activates a mental process which into mere equations, and chemical and physi- starts with the seizure, reaching knowledge cal formulae; arguing that a human being is and then comprehension, to end up with a to- formed by chemical elements and com- tal understanding of whatever was involved by pounds. the information in the origin. All this implies More recently, a turn towards a more human- a process of organization of knowledge itself. izing position is being observed. Let us, for in- On the other hand, information is considered stance, quote Fernando de Elzaburu, who ba- to be the connecting thread which affects the ses his theory of knowledge organization on brain of human beings, helping them to form the change of paradigm of his new “vision of their intelligence. Each historical period has reality”. We live in a transmutation period and, based its knowledge theories on a different therefore, old reference parameters are no principle, which is itself influenced by the longer valid. Other more highly abstracted pa- stage of the actual evolution of mankind. Sim- rameters, based on system theory, should be ilarly, the philosophical trends being studied accepted. Norbert Henrichs also develops his by men from different points of view have had theory from a change of paradigm, by adding an influence; different theories have thus a phylo-theological connotation to infor- raised, such as causalism, empiricalism, posi- mation, based on obtaining “wisdom” –more tivism, historicism, physicism and so on. complex than “knowledge”-; subjective and The relationships that may be applied between relative knowledge, since it is human, but ob- some of these known theories and infor- jective and absolute with respect to its rela- tionship with science –note of the author–. Jirî glossariumBITri 139 INFORMATIONISM Cejpek’s sets his paradigm on human con- Universe, within which is Planet Earth and science, as a psycho-physical phenomenon the rest of the cosmos, leads one to consider carried out in the brain when it receives infor- Informationism from its pantheistic aspect, of mation. Many other formulations, by many globalizing connotations, considering this as a other authors, and deducible from the ones al- positive view. Informationism can thus be ready mentioned, could be quoted here. considered to have positivistic attributes. 9. Informationism: a new theory of It is deduced that Informationism can be de- knowledge. Even though it is widely admit- scribed as human, objective, realistic, optimis- ted that we are currently living in the Age of tic, globalizing, philosophical, scientific, prag- Communication, given that information flows matic ,real, terrestrial, cosmic… pantheistic; all back and forth through communication; it is “good” qualities anyway. Some researchers obvious that information surrounds and in- and specialists may not agree with this classifi- vades us. Not even on a desert island could cation and theories… let us await their reac- tions. we escape its influence. Information is the ba- sis for any human activity, for all our reason- In any case, it can be stated that Information- ing, the origin of any social attitude; it is the ism period has arrived. basis… It is the basis on which to formulate a 10. Conclusions. We live in a constantly theory of knowledge, which takes information evolving world, which leads to a continuous as fundamental paradigm, and which I call transmutation as well. In the past twenty years “Informationism”. or so, to set a date, there have been greater On the one hand, Informationism entails an transmutations than in the fifty years before. optimistic viewpoint, through the belief that a Information technology has been the cause of more equal and homogeneous world can be all these changes. We do not even know our- achieved, if its paradigms are correctly applied. selves, neither do we get to specify our atti- On the other hand it implies a waiting and tudes towards machines, faced with a com- hoping attitude, given that it implies an uncer- puter for instance. What an amazing change in tainty before the truth is revealed. Infor- the way we do some research, write a confer- mationism also assumes a functional principle ence paper or send a letter to a friend! Ma- of thinking, a philosophic and scientific activ- chines and electronic devices would not have ity, with its repercussion on scientific develop- gained such importance in our lives… if it ment. Moreover, it affects daily activities, such were not for the influence of a driving force… as trade and industry. Its influence can be ob- towards change. Here is just where infor- served in ethical and cultural behaviours. It mation has its place, exactly in this driving also has an effect on pragmatic activities such force, which is mainly determined by two spe- as decision-making, for instance. Having an at- cific factors: quantity on the one hand, and titude based on Informationism means per- speed on the other, in which human beings are ceiving the world from a higher level, on immersed. We live rushed lives. We are in a which a broader range of concepts is ob- hurry to do everything; even, or maybe due to served; a higher level of abstraction. that, to control the amount of information surrounding us. Informationism is an objective in itself. It re- lies, in each particular case, on real and objec- Ours is a changing world, influenced by infor- tive reasoning, based on the existence of also mation. It is information itself which leads us real and objective information, hence true in- to understand that our fields of consideration; formation. Therefore, Informationism is also our points of view must be broadened. Every- true and real. These rather deterministic atti- thing is related to everything; and to be able to tudes; stating a totalitarian view of infor- distinguish what captures the relevance, the at- mation as the seed of “all” that happens in the 140 glossariumBITri INFORMATIONISM tention or the interest, a higher degree of ab- ― COBOS, R.; ALAMÁN, X.; ESQUIVEL, J.A. straction needs to be reached. Things need to KNOWCAT (2001-2002): Catalizador de conoci- miento. KnowCat: Knowledge Catalyser. RedIRIS, be looked upon from higher above; a higher Boletín de la red nacional de I+D. Nº 58-59 (Diciembre level of thought needs to be reached… Like- 2001-Enero 2002), pp.7-10. wise, there should be the aspiration of reach- ― CURRÁS, Emilia (1981). ¿Estaremos en la Época ing a Cosmo vision… with higher level of ab- del Informacionismo?. Rev. Univ. Complutense, 2, pp. 186-188. straction. ― CURRÁS, Emilia (1983). Ciertos Principios Cientí- Since the appearance of information was fico-Filosóficos de las Ciencias de la Documenta- ción. Rev. Univ. Complutense. Vol.1, nº 4, pp. 83-88. shown up: due to the influence on the brain of ― CURRÁS, Emilia (1985-86). La Información como impulses coming from the outside - quanta of Cuarto Elemento Vital y su Influencia en la Cultura useful information -, thus reaching the neu- de los Pueblos. Toletum. Año LXIX, 2ª época, 20, pp. rons and activating them, nearly all definitions 27-46. found consider this aspect; and then the an- ― CURRÁS, Emilia (1988). La información en sus nuevos aspectos. Madrid: Paraninfo. thropological, neurological, biological, onto- ― CURRÁS, Emilia (1989). El Metabolismo Neuronal genetical, epistemological, and theological de la Información. Conferencia pronunciada en la connotations appeared. Regarding this, our Real Academia de Farmacia, 1989, y en el ATE- colleague A. García Gutiérrez mentions “bio NEO de Madrid. Texto mecanografiado. ― CURRÁS, Emilia (1990). Un nuevo concepto de In- information”. formación en la Integración Científica. Libro actas Information, as an all-time route of civiliza- 45th Conference and Congress of FID. La Habana: FID (septiembre 1990) pp. 19-38. tion, is also analyzed. It is supposed to belong ― CURRÁS, Emilia (1994). An Approach to Applica- to the mesosystem, within the noosystems. tion of Systematics to Knowledge Organization, And there is also here an induction to consider Finding New Values and Uses of Information. Li- the validity of Informationism: a new episte- bro actas 47th FID Conference and Congress. Omiya, mology, based on the paradigm of the univer- Saitama, Japan: FID. ― CURRÁS, Emilia (1999). Dialéctica en la Organiza- sality of information. ción del Conocimiento. Organ. Conoc. Sist. Inf. Doc. 3, pp. 23-43. A new area of knowledge is emerging, inde- ― CURRÁS, Emilia (2002). Vertical Integration of Sci- pendent in itself, but systematic and vertically ences: an Approach to a Different View of related to the rest of the scientific areas of Knowledge Organization. Journal of Information knowledge; that is to say, Information as a sci- Science. Vol. 28, nº 5, pp. 417-426. ence in itself. ― ELZABURU, F.; MARTINTEGUI, J. (1987). De la incertidumbre a la esperanza. Madrid: AINPA. References ― HENRICHS, Norbert (1997). Informationswissenschaft.Grundlage des praktischen ― ARNTZ, Helmut (1983). Information und Information und Dokumentation, 4 Aufl. Munchen, Seit Hominisation: Grenzlinie der Entwicklung. 945-957. Vorstudie zu einer Paläologie der Information. The ― HENRICHS, Norbert: Informationswissenschaft als Hague: FID 627. angewandte Antropologie: Der Düseldorfer Ansatz. ― BRIER, S. Cybersemiotics (1996). A New Interdisci- In :Bücher für die Wissenschaft.Festschrift für plinary Development Applied to the Problems of Günter Gattermann.München,u.a.:K.G.Saur,1994, Knowledge Organization and Document Retrieval pp. 445-461.ation ism in Information Science. Journal of Documentation. Vol. ― KING, Alexander (1989). The Great Transition. Int. 52, nº 3, pp. 296-344. Forum Inf. Docum. Vol. 14, nº 2, pp. 3-8. ― BUCKLAND, Michael (1981). Information and Infor- ― KRUMHOLZ, Walter (2004). Grenzen der mation Systems. New York, 1991. (12) Dretske, Fred physiologischen Informationsverarbeitung des I. Knowledge and Flow of Information. Oxford: Basil Menschen. Information Wissenchaft und Praxis, Vol 55, Blackwell Publisher. nº 5 (Juli/August 2004), pp 283-287. ― CAPURRO, Rafael (1986). Hermeneutik der ― MANKEVIČ, A.I.; KOLTYPINOVÁ, T.N. (1974). Fachinformation. Freiburg; München. Analiz vzaimosvjazej naucnoj informatiki i bibli- ― CEJPEK, Jirî (1995). Aportaciones checas a la cien- otecno-bibliografickich disciplin [Comparative anal- cia de la información. AABADOM. VI, 2 (Abril-Ju- ysis of special computing and of librarian-biblio- nio), pp. 4-7. graphic disciplines]. Social´nyje problemy informatiki glossariumBITri 141 INPUT VS OUTPUT [Social problems of computing]. Leningrad, pp. 21- predict the effects of final demand (consump- 35. tion, investment, foreign trade) on total out- ― McHALE, John (1981). El entorno cambiante de la in- formación. Madrid: Técnos. put. Economical input-output analysis goes ― MIKHAILOV, Alexander I. (1982). Science as a back to Francois Quesnay (1694-1774) who as System of ciclic Process of generation, Processing, surgeon in ordinary to king Louis XV of Accumulation and Transfer of Scientific Infor- France was inspired by blood circulation and mation. Theoretical Problems of Informatics: Place of Infor- mation in the Global Problems of the World, Moscow: developed the first tables of an economy. Le- VINITI, FID 659. ontief did not start from scratch. He expanded ― SHANON, C.E; WEAVER, W. (1949). The Mathe- Marx' reproduction schemes and the planning matical Theory of communication. Urban Univ. of Illinois tools of the former Soviet Union up to a point Press. where Input-Output Analysis became applica- (EC) ble empirically. References INPUT vs OUTPUT (S. entrada vs salida, F. ― LEONTIEF, W. W. (1928). “Die Wirtschaft als entrée vs sortie, G. Eingabe vs Ausgabe) [System Kreislauf". Archiv f. Sozialwiss. u. Sozialpolitik", Vol. Theory, economics] concept 60, pp. 577-623. Input and Output represent the (unidirec- (PF) tional) connections of a dynamic system resp. of its elements with its environment. Usually INTERCULTURAL INFORMATION there is more than one input and output of a ETHICS (S. ética intercultural de la información, system. While inputs represent influences F. Éthique interculturel de l'information, G. from the environment to the system, outputs Interkulturelle Informationethik) [Information represent the effects of the system on its envi- ethics, Information Society] discipline ronment. If there is no connection between the system and its environment, the system is Contents.— 1) Erecting a new discipline, 2) The foun- called closed. dational debate (2.1 On the Sources of Morality, 2.2 On the Foundation of IIE –Charles Ess, Toru Nishigaki, The relation between input and output of a Terrell Ward Bynum, Bernd Forman, Luciano Floridi, system is of particular interest. By the assump- Philip Brey, Rafael Capurro), 3) Debate on IIE tion of the black box hypothesis (ignoring the Intercultural Information Ethics (IIE) can be inner structure and relations of the system) defined in a narrow or in a broad sense. In a one can try to analyze the output of the system narrow sense it focuses on the impact of in- in its response to a change in the input. If a formation and communication technology deterministic system always responds to all (ICT) on different cultures as well as on how certain inputs in the same way the system is specific issues are understood from different called passive, if not, it is called active. If the cultural traditions. In a broad sense it deals not relations between input and output are sto- only with intercultural issues raised by ICT but chastic in nature, one can study the condi- by other media as well allowing a large histor- tional probability distributions of the output ical comparative view. IIE explores these is- to get more information on the system. sues under descriptive and normative perspec- Input-Output Analysis, developed by Nobel tives. Such comparative studies can be done Laureate Wassily Leontief (1905-1999), is a either at a concrete or ontic level or at the level method to study economic systems on a local, of ontological or structural presuppositions. regional, (mainly) national or global basis. 1. Erecting a new discipline. The interna- With the help of an Input-Output Table (list- tional debate on →information ethics started ing the value of intermediary goods and the with the “First International Congress on Eth- value added for each firm or industry) one can 142 glossariumBITri INTERCULTURAL INFORMATION ETHICS ical, Legal, and Societal Aspects of Digital In- dealing with the foundational debate in moral formation” organized by UNESCO in 1997. philosophy in general as well as with IIE in Subsequent UN conferences culminated in particular. the World Summit on the Information Soci- 2. The foundational debate ety. The academic debate on intercultural is- sues of ICT takes place in the biennial confer- 2.1 On the Sources of Morality. There is a ences on “Cultural attitudes towards technol- classic debate in moral philosophy between ogy and communication” organized by cognitivism and non-cognitivism with regard Charles Ess and Fay Sudweeks since 1998. But to the truth-value of moral claims. This dis- intercultural issues are also raised in the ETH- tinction presupposes that human emotions ICOMP conferences organized by Simon have no cognitive value and vice versa, that Rogerson since 1995, the conferences on human cognition has a truth-value if and only “Ethics of Electronic Information in the 21st if it is free of emotions. According to Capurro Century” at the University of Memphis since (2009), this is a wrong alternative since, on the 1997, and the CEPE conferences (Computer one hand, there is no emotion-free cognition; Ethics: Philosophical Enquiry) since 1997. on the other hand, emotions have a cognitive value as demonstrated by neurobiologist An- The first international symposium dealing ex- tonio Damasio (1994). plicitly with intercultural information ethics was organized by the International Center for One classical answer to the question of the Information Ethics entitled “Localizing the foundation of morality is that moral claims re- Internet. Ethical Issues in Intercultural Per- late to the basic moral principle “do no harm, spective.” It took place in Karlsruhe (Ger- help where you can”. Capurro believes that many) in 2004 (Capurro et al. 2007). The Ox- even if we can give good reasons for such a ford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics orga- fundamental moral principle, the knowledge nized an international conference, entitled of such reasons is not enough to move the will “Information Ethics: Agents, Artefacts and in order to do (or not) the good. Is there a New Cultural Perspectives” that took place in foundation for this principle? 2005 at St Cross College Oxford. This confer- According to Karl Baier (2006), basic moods ence addressed cultural questions of the glob- through which the uniqueness of the world alization of information processes and flows, and the finitude of our existence become man- particularly “whether information ethics in a ifest, are a transcultural experience common global sense may be biased in favour of West- to all human beings. They concern our aware- ern values and interests and whether far-east- ness of the common world. It is on the basis ern cultures may provide new perspectives of the mood of anxiety, for instance, that we and heuristics for a successful development of are aware of death and finitude or in the mood the information society.” (Floridi/Savulescu of “being born” in which we feel ourselves 2006, 155). Soraj Hongladarom and Charles open for new possibilities of being. According Ess have edited a book with the title “Infor- to Heidegger (1987, 228ff) fear is a mood in mation Technology Ethics: Cultural Perspec- which one is afraid about something fearsome, tives” (Hongladarom/Ess 2007). The book while anxiety, in contrast, faces us with our be- puts together a selection of contributions on ing-in-the-world itself. Wittgenstein describes what Western and non-Western intellectual his “key experience” (“mein Erlebnis par ex- traditions have to say on various issues in in- cellence”) in the "Lecture on Ethics" with the formation ethics, as well as theoretical debates following words: offering proposals for new synthesis between Western and Eastern traditions. “This experience, in case I have it, can be described most properly, I believe, with the words I am In the following, an overview on IIE as dis- amazed about the existence of the world. Then I cussed in some of these sources is presented, glossariumBITri 143 INTERCULTURAL INFORMATION ETHICS tend to use formulations like these ones: 'How point to such call without being able to give a strange that something exists at all' or 'How foundation, which would negate the phenom- strange that the world exists'". (Wittgenstein enon of the call as originating such utterance. 1989, 14, trans. Capurro) Our being-in-the-world is the ‘first call’ or pri- According to Wittgenstein we have really no mum movens of our will. This might provide appropriate expression for this experience – a universal non-metaphysical frame of refer- other than the existence of language itself. On ence for different experiences and ethical the- December 30, 1929 he writes: ories. Buddhism, for instance, experiences the world in all its transitoriness in a mood of sad- “I can imagine what Heidegger means with being ness and happiness being also deeply moved and anxiety. Human beings have the tendency to by suffering. This mood grasps the world in a run against the boundaries of language. Think for specific way. There is something common to instance about the astonishment that something at all human beings in the basic moods but at the all exists. […] Ethics is this run against the same time there are specific moods at the be- boundaries of language.” (Wittgenstein 1984, 68, ginning of human cultures, such as astonish- trans. Capurro) ment (“thaumazein”) in the Greek experience In other words, the primum movens of moral of the world. Karl Baier points to the danger actions lies in the call coming from the unique- of building stereotypes particularly when deal- ness of the world and the finitude of human ing with the differences between East and existence that are disclosed through moods. West with regard, for instance, to the search According to Heidegger we are “indebted” or for harmony as an apparently typical and “guilty” towards the calling of the world, in unique mood of Asian cultures or the opposi- the various senses of the word “guilty” such as tion between collectivity and individuality ‘having debts to someone’ or ‘being responsi- (Baier 2006). As there are no absolute differ- ble for’ (Heidegger 1987, 325ff) We are pri- ences between cultures there are also no ex- mordially “guilty” in the sense that we are in- clusive moods. Experiences such as nausea, debted to the “there” of our existence, be- pangs of moral conscience or the ‘great doubt’ tween birth and death. Our existence is basi- are common to Japanese Buddhism and mod- cally “care” of our given and limited possibili- ern Western nihilism. A future intercultural ties that manifest themselves within the frame- philosophy should look for textual basis from work of the uniqueness of the world and hu- literature, art, religion and everyday culture man existence. paying attention to complex phenomena and to the interaction between moods and under- Morality arises from (Greek: “hothen”) the standing. If there is a danger of building stere- awareness and respect for both the uniqueness otypes, there is also one of overlooking not of the world itself and human existence which only concrete or ontic but also structural or are the invaluable and theoretically non prov- able truth-values on which all moral claims ontological differences by claiming a single world culture that mostly reflects the interests rest. The moral imperative is the call for care and global life style of a small portion of hu- of our lives in a common world. It is a cate- manity. gorical imperative since there is no way to avoid caring for our lives, but it allows at the 2.2 On the Foundation of IIE same time different interpretations that we ac- a) Charles Ess’ “global information ethics” cumulate as individuals as well as societies seeks to avoid imperialistic homogenization building a dynamic cultural memory. Such re- while simultaneously preserving the irreduci- flection does not provide a sufficient reason ble differences between cultures and peoples for doing the good, just because any linguistic (Ess 2006). He analyzes the connections of utterance would be insufficient without the experience of the call itself. A theory can only 144 glossariumBITri INTERCULTURAL INFORMATION ETHICS such an ethical pluralism between contempo- coming “necessary to accompany the emer- rary Western ethics and Confucian thought. gence of the information society” on the other Both traditions invoke notions of resonance hand (Nishigaki 2006, 237). Such changes and harmony to articulate pluralistic structures concern, for instance, the Western idea of a of connection alongside irreducible differ- “coherent self” being questioned by infor- ences. Ess explores such a pros hen ("towards mation processing in robots. While this one") pluralism in Eastern and Western con- change may lead from a Western perspective ceptions of privacy and data privacy protec- to nihilism, Buddhist philosophy teaches that tion. This kind of pluralism is the opposite to there is no such a thing as a “coherent self” a purely modus vivendi pluralism that leaves ten- ethics having to do with compassion as well as sions and conflicts unresolved and giving thus with the relationship between the individual rise to a cycle of violence. Another more ro- and the community. The key ethical question bust form of pluralism presupposes a shared might be how our communities are changing set of ethical norms and standards but without instead of how far the “self” is endangered. As overcoming deeply contradictions. An even Nishigaki remarks: “It is possible to say, there- stronger form of pluralism does not search fore, that in a sense the West now stands in identity but only some kind of coherence or, need of Eastern ethics, while the East stands as Ess suggests, complementarity between two in need of Western ethics” (Nishigaki 2006, irreducible different entities. 238). Nishigaki stresses at the same time, that there is no “easy bridge” between IT and East- There are pitfalls of prima facie convergences, ern philosophy. IT as looked from a cultural analogies and family resemblances that may be standpoint “has a strong affinity with the oversimplified by a pros hen strategy. In many Judeo-Christian pursuit for a universal inter- cases we should try to dig into deeper layers in pretation of sacred texts.” order to understand where these claims origi- nate or simply accept the limits of human the- While we in the West look for some kind of oretical reason by celebrating the richness of unchanged meaning of terms, such as in human experience. As Kei Hiruta rightly Charles Ess’ pros hen search for shared values stresses (Hiruta 2006), it is not clear what the and a tolerant or benevolent view on judgment points of shared ethical agreements are and diversity, the ZEN master is eager to exercise how this call for unity fits with a call for diver- himself in his disciple “by doing away with sity concerning the judgements of such ethical universal or conventional interpretations of perspectives. According to Hiruta, the advo- the meanings of words” (Nishigaki 2006, 238). cates of ethical pluralism would like to avoid In other words, the Buddhist stance teaches the untolerable, such as child pornography in us, Westerners, another strategy beyond the the Internet, working on the basis of a prag- controversy between monism and pluralism, matic problem-solving strategy leading to by way of a different kind of practice than the “points of agreement” or “responses” on the Socratic dialogue. Nishigaki points to the con- basis of Socratic dialogue. Socratic dialogue is troversy in the West between cognitive science based on the spirit of parrhesia or “direct and its view of cognition as a “representation” speech” which is a key feature of Western phi- of the “outer world” and the view shared by losophy (Capurro 2006a). our everyday experience as well as, for in- stance, phenomenology. Biologist Francisco b) Toru Nishigaki. In his contribution on infor- Varela’s theory of autopoiesis offers an alter- mation ethics in Japan, Toru Nishigaki makes native based on the Buddhist view on cogni- a difference between the search of ethical tion as “a history of actions performed by a norms in the context of new information tech- subject in the world” being then not represen- nologies on the one hand, and the changes “on tation of a pregiven world by a pregiven mind our views of human beings and society” be- glossariumBITri 145 INTERCULTURAL INFORMATION ETHICS but “enactment” of such a history in the Castells) with some of its predecessors for in- world. stance in England’s global empire. According to Frohmann, “ethical action consists in a c) Terrell Ward Bynum. ‘The’ information soci- ’mode of subjectivation’ not eclipsed by the ety is and has always been culturally frag- will to truth’s drive to knowledge, transcend- mented into different information societies. ence, and universality. A philosophical ethos Consequently, what is morally good for one seeks contingencies and singularities rather information society may be considered as less than universal determinants, which block the appropriate in another one. Terrell Ward aim of getting ‘free of oneself’” (Frohmann Bynum advocates, borrowing insights from 2007, 64-65). This is a plea for a kind of Inter- Aristotle, Norbert Wiener, and James Moor, cultural Information Ethics that focuses on a for a “flourishing ethics” which means that careful situational analysis starting with the lo- “the overall purpose of a human life is to cal conditions which does not mean mono- flourish as a person” according to the basic cultural chauvinism but critical appraisal of the principles of freedom, equality and benevo- way(s) computers control societies and the lence and the principle of minimum infringe- strategies people can develop in order to be- ment of freedom (Bynum 2006). If the goal is coming “digitally imperceptible.” Frohmann to maximize the opportunities of all humans asks for strategies of “escaping” the Internet to exercise their autonomy – a conception of rather than “localizing” it as far as it can be- human existence that is culturally grounded in come a local instrument of oppression. Western social philosophy – Bynum rightly follows that “many different cultures, with a e) Luciano Floridi. Distinguishing between “eth- wide diversity of customs, religions, languages ics of global communication” and “global in- and practices, can provide a conductive con- formation ethics”, Luciano Floridi addresses text for human flourishing” (Bynum 2006, respectively: on the one hand, the pragmatic 163). In other words, Wiener’s principles pro- dialog in the interaction between different cul- vide a foundation for a non-relativistic global tures and generations, on the other hand, the ethics that is friendly to cultural diversity. foundational questions regarding the possibil- Bynum widens the scope of this human-cen- ity of common principles allowing such dialog, tered ethics into a “general theory of Flourish- or the existence of a macro-ethic in the sense ing Ethics” which includes the question of del- of some kind of consesualism or deontolo- egation of responsibility to ‘artificial agents’ gismo or contractualism (Floridi 2009: 222). and the consequent need for ethical rules for A key issue in Floridi’s theory is the “shared such agents. Although Bynum welcomes dif- ontology” as a mean to overcome in global in- ferent ethical traditions, he is well aware that formation concerns Wittgenstein’s problem of some of them would not be compatible with the lion: “if a lion could talk, we wouldn’t be “General Flourishing Ethics”. able to understand it” (Wittgenstein 1953, d) Bernd Frohmann. Following Michel Foucault §568). As a basis for common understanding and Gilles Deleuze, Bernd Frohmann pro- Floridi proposes a basic ontology of life and poses a philosophical interrogation of the lo- death, food and shelter, anguish and protec- cal effects of the Internet through three main tion (Floridi 2009, 224), i.e. whatever allows us concepts, namely effect, locality, and ethics to support life and avoid suffering or destruc- (Frohmann 2007). He discusses the relation- tion of any entity, since – based on the very ships between the global and the local or, fact of being - every entity has a right for be- more specifically, between the flows of capital, ing. The most elemental opposition is being vs information, technology, and organizational entropy, or the “flourishing of entities” in their interaction by pointing to the similarities and global environment vs the “destruction”, difference of today’s “space of flow” (Manuel “corruption” or “impoverishment of being” 146 glossariumBITri INTERCULTURAL INFORMATION ETHICS (Floridi 2008). He names this minimal ontol- He leaves to social science the question of the ogy “ontocentric” –aparently more radical usage of ICT as instruments of oppression or than, for instance, biocentric or anthropocen- freedom, just focusing on the comparative tric. In the center, we find the patient of an analysis of moral systems. This limitation action instead of the agent. He opposes both might be a lack to overcome some avoidable a metaphysical theory stating something about cultural relativism, since some cultural clo- the being of entities –as a kind of ontological sures might have arisen within the tensions re- imperialism- and a plain relativism unable to garding oppression and freedom, which can suggest any effective interaction regarding in- easily be connected to the “suffering” vs tercultural problems. Without imposing hier- “flourishing” –posed, as seen before, as a basis archies of common values, “global infor- of mutual understanding-. In clear opposition mation ethics” should allow them to embed to Brey’s stance, the The North American phi- them within particular situation and natures losopher Ken Himma argues for an objectiv- (“embeddedness” and “embodiement”). This ist moral, which should be comparative and a light and horizontal ontology aims at bridging part of social sciences (Himma 2008). The en- cultures, which in their vertical and thick den- deavor of EII is not just interaction –as in sity are often irreconcilable. Brey- but agreement. However, although he provides good arguments to defend objectiv- However, we might ask: this “light” and “hor- ism, he does not develop a system of objective izontal” approach is enough to face the prag- norms for information ethics. matic problems arisen in intercultural interac- tion or we also need a thick and vertical anal- g) Rafael Capurro. In today’s information soci- ysis to overcome them? How could this mini- ety we form ourselves and our selves mainly mal ontology be politically accepted? The through digital media. The power of digital “dignity of being” does not pose a minimal networks does not lead necessarily to slavery metaphysical ontology? and oppression but also to reciprocity and mu- tual obligation. Globalisation gives rise to the f) Philip Brey. For the Netherlander philoso- question of what does locally matter. Cyber- pher Philip Brey, an ethical dialog thoughtfully space vanishes into the diversity of complex considering cultural differences is necessary to real/virtual space-time connections of all cope with intercultural information ethical kinds which are not any more separable from problems (Brey 2007). He includes in infor- everyday life and its materiality. The bounda- mation ethics issues related to ICTs, compu- ries of language against which we are driven tation and mass media, distinguishing between appear now as the boundaries of digital net- a moral descriptive relativism and a normative works which not only pervade but accelerate level, named meta-ethical. The latter faces the all relationships between humans as well as be- question about the existence of universal val- tween all kinds of natural phenomena and ar- ues and principles or the cultural relativity of tificial things. IE, but the problems should be first reflected in a descriptive relativity for afterwards Following Michael Walzer (1994) and Soraj searching for differences and commonalities. Hongladarom (2001), Capurro conceives He analyses relativism in privacy, intellectual moral arguments as “thick” or “thin” regard- property rights, information freedom and the ing whether they are contextualized or not but difference between moralities centered in hu- questioning the view that there is no third al- man rights in Western societies and centered ternative between mono- and meta-cultural in virtues in Far-east societies influenced by ethical claims (Capurro 2007). A purely meta- Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and Mao- cultural information ethics remains abstract if ism superimposing social harmony to individ- it is not inter-culturally reflected. The task of ual welfare. Intercultural Information Ethics is to inter- twin “thick” and “think” ethical arguments in glossariumBITri 147 INTERCULTURAL INFORMATION ETHICS the information field. The analysis by Michel wikis and “Second Life” are arising. We have Foucault on the Western tradition of parrhesia to deepen the foundational debate on the or ‘direct speech’ shows that it as a special trait sources of morality. According to Michel Fou- of Western moral behaviour and democratic cault, ethics can be understood as the “prob- practice in contrast to the importance of ‘indi- lematization” of morality. Intercultural Infor- rect speech’ in Eastern traditions (Foucault mation Ethics has a critical task to achieve 1983). We should develop this difference for when it compares information moralities. This instance with regard to Confucian and Daoist concerns the ontological or structural as well thought and their relevance for the develop- as the ontic or empirical levels of analysis. One ment of information societies in Asia. In reso- important issue in this regard is the question nance to Charles Ess’ concept of an ethical of the universality of values vs. the locality of pros hen (“towards one”) that looks for a plu- cultures and vice versa which is related to the ralist interpretation and application of shared problem of their homogenization or hybridi- ethical norms (Ess 2006), Capurro argues in zation. favor of a hothen (“from which”) approach that References turns the attention to the question of the source(s) of ethical norms including the mul- ― BAIER, Karl (2006). Welterschliessung durch tiple cognitive-emotional experience of such Grundstimmungen als Problem interkultureller Phaenomenologie. Daseinsanalyse, 22, 99-109. source(s). The task of IIE is not only to de- ― BREY, Philip (2007). Global Information Ethics scribe them, but to open the endless task of and the Challenge of Cultural Relativism. In: Euro- translation between them (→hermeneutics). As pean regional Conference on the “ethical dimensions of the in- Susan Sontag suggests (Sontag 2004), the task formation society”. [online] 148 glossariumBITri INTERCULTURAL INFORMATION ETHICS ― CAPURRO, Rafael / Frühbauer, Johannes / Haus- ― HONGLADAROM, Soraj / Ess, Charles (2007a): manninger, Thomas (Eds.) (2007). Localizing the Inter- Preface. In: ibid.: Information Technology Ethics: Cultural net. Ethical aspects in intercultural perspective. Munich: Perspectives. Hershey, Pennsylvania: Idea Group, xi- Fink. xxxiii. ― DAMASIO, Antonio (1994). Descartes’ Error: ― HONGLADAROM, Soraj (2001). Cultures and Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. Putnam Global Justice. [Online] http://www.pol- Publishing. ylog.org/them/3/fcshs-en-htm> [Accessed on ― ESS, Charles (2007). Can the Local Reshape the April 21, 2008] Global? Ethical Imperatives for Humane Intercul- ― INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF INFOR- tural Communication Online”. In Capurro, Rafael / MATION ETHICS (IRIE) (2004). International Frühbauer, Johannes / Hausmanninger, Thomas ICIE Symposium. [Online] http://www.i-r-i-e.net (Eds.) (2007). Localizing the Internet. Ethical aspects in [Accessed on April 21, 2008] intercultural perspective. Munich: Fink, 153-169. ― NISHIGAKI, Toru and TAKENOUCHI, Tadashi ― ESS, Charles (2006). Ethical pluralism and global in- (eds.) (2007). The Thought of Information Ethics. Tokyo: formaion ethics. In Ethics and Information Technology, Communis 05 (in Japanese). 8, 215-226. ― NISHIGAKI, Toru (2006). The ethics in Japanese ― FLORIDI, Luciano / Savulescu, Julian (2006). In- information society: Consideration on Fracisco formation ethics: Agents, artefacts and new cultural Varela’s The Embodied Mind from the perspective perspectives. Ethics and Information Technology 8, 155- of fundamental informatics. Ethics and Information Te- 156. chnology, 8:237-242. ― FLORIDI, Luciano (2009). Information Ethics and ― SONTAG, Susan (2004). Die Welt als Indien. In Globalization. In Proceedings del 2009 Global Forum Lettre International, September, Vol. 65, 82-86. Civilization and Peace. The Academy of Korean Stud- ― WALZER, Michael (1994). Thick and Thin: Moral Ar- ies and Korean National Academy for UNESCO guments at Home and Abroad. Notre Dame: University (Eds.), pp. 217-230. of Notre Dame Press. ― FLORIDI, Luciano (2008). Information Ethics. Its ― WITTGENSTEIN, Ludwig (1989). Vortrag über Nature and Scope. En: Jeroen van den Hoven y Ethik. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp. John Wecker (Eds.). Information Technology and Moral ― WITTGENSTEIN, Ludwig (1984). Zu Heidegger. Philosophy. Cambridge University Press, pp. 40-65. In: B.F. McGuiness (Ed.) Ludwig Wittgenstein und der ― FOUCAULT, Michel (1983). Discourse and Truth: the Wiener Kreis. Gespräche, aufgezeichnet von Friedrich Problematization of Parrhesia. University of California Waismann. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp. at Berkeley, October-November 1983. [Online] ― WITTGENSTEIN, Ludwig (1953). Philosophische http://foucault.info/documents/parrhesia/ [Ac- Untersuchungen. (trans. Ascome, Hacker, Schulte. cessed on April 21, 2008]. Philosophical investigations. Oxford, UK: Willey & ― FROHMANN, Bernd (2007). FOUCAULT, Blackwell, 2009) Deleuze, and the Ethics of Digital Networks. In CAPURRO, Rafael, FRÜHBAUER, Johannes, (RC –ed.-; RC, JMD) HAUSMANNINGER, Thomas (Eds.) (2007). Lo- calizing the Internet. Ethical aspects in intercultural perspec- tive. Munich: Fink, 57-68. ― GRODZINSKY, Frances S., TAVANI, Herman T. (2007). The Internet and Community Building at the Local and Global Levels: Some Implications and Challenges. In CAPURRO, Rafael, FRÜHBAUER, Johannes / Hausmanninger, Thomas (Eds.): Localiz- ing the Internet. Ethical aspects in intercultural perspective. Munich: Fink, 135-149. ― HEIDEGGER, Martin (1987). Being and Time. Translated by John Macquarrie & Edward Robin- son, Oxford: Basil Blackwell. ― HIMMA, Kenneth Einar (2008). The intercultural ethics agenda from the point of view of a moral ob- jectivist. En Journal of Information, Communication & Ethics in Society, 6, 2, pp. 101-115. ― HIRUTA, Kei (2006). What pluralism, why plural- ism, and how? A response to Charles Ess. Ethics and Information Technology 8: 227-236 ― HONGLADAROM, Soraj / Ess, Charles (Eds.) (2007). Information Technology Ethics: Cultural Perspec- tives. Hershey, Pennsylvania: Idea Group. glossariumBITri 149 K KNOWLEDGE (S. conocimiento, F. connais- him, that what he thinks is true and that this sances, G. erkenntniss, Wissen) [transdiscipinary, person is justified in believing in it (that this philosophy, epistemology, cognitive science, attributed belief has to be reasoned, not arbi- semantic] concept trary). Contents. 1) Classical epistemologic model, 2) 2. Dretske's informational model. Fred Dretske's informational model, 3) Floridi's seman- Dretske, the American philosopher, intro- tic model, 4) Systemic model of the UTI, 5) Con- duced Knowledge in informational terms in ductual model, 6) Knowledge and near concepts, 1981. He provides, from his definition of in- (a. Knowledge vs. information, b. Knowledge and formative content, a definition of knowledge mental states, c. Knowledge vs. experience, truth, in informative terms: K knows that s is F and belief and values). only if K's belief that s is F is caused (or is Throughout the history of thought countless causally sustained) by the information that s is words have been written concerning what F. knowledge is. There are innumerous pro- Within this definition must be understood the posals, from different philosophical precepts, terms "belief caused by information" as that that have attempted to answer this question. belief caused by the information contained in In this sense, if we review the literature on the fact that s is F. Cognitive Science and epistemology, we can figure out that there are several theoretical In short, restoring the definition of informa- models that can meet the goal of offering an tive content, so that K knows something, K adequete definition of knowledge. should have information of that something with probability equal to 1, therefore, knowing 1. Classical epistemologic model. The pro- that s is F requires not only certain infor- posal of classical epistemology advocates a mation about s (an appropriate or sufficient definition of knowledge from the notions of quantity), but the information that s is F. belief, truth value and justification (or argu- ment). In this sense, a person A knows that P Two important theoretical benefits can be if and only if it fulfills the following three con- drawn from this Dreskian proposal on ditions: (a) A believes that P, (b) P is true and knowledge: (c) is justified in believing that P. The first of these benefits is found in the fact At the first glance, the classical epistemologi- that this definition allows us to explain the cal proposal provides a solid base to approach possibility of transmission of knowledge: the identification process and knowledge rep- when a speaker K knows that s is F and, resentation in the context of an organization. among other things, ii sincerely asserts that s In this sense, in order to conclude that a per- is F, the listeners will come to know that s is F son knows a concrete thing (has a concrete from what the speaker says (respecting the knowledge), we only have to verify that this principle of the introduced copy in the previ- person has a belief; the belief that coincides ous section). This communicative fact is met, with this supposed knowledge we attribute to according to Drestkian definition of glossariumBITri 150 KNOWLEDGE knowledge, if K knows that s is F from the of the studied system, or it must not be di- information that s is F, and if the transmission rectly related to the system by means of a of this information is done with an ambiguity causal chain; instead, it will depend on the pro- equal to 0. cessing of data by knowledge. In turn, data are conceived as the resources and restrictions al- The second benefit is something beyond the lowing the construction of information. possibility of transmission of knowledge. Therefore, it can be stated that Floridi pro- What this definition mainly pursues is to reach poses an architectural relationship between the goal of distancing from those clasical epis- knowledge, information and data, being temological theories that had presented knowledge on the summit and data on the knowledge as a justified and true belief. base. At the same time and as a result of such Dretske replaces the necessity for the justifica- interrelationship, he replaces Dretske’s re- tion of belief with causality of information. He quirement of truth of (which is also subscribed seeks, in making such a change, to overcome by the situation theory) by a requirement of the problems usually presented by these clas- truthfulness, i.e. instead of searching for a cor- sical theories (the paradoxes of Gettier and respondence between the statement and what lottery), and also gets an adequate argument the information is about, the attention is ra- against the radical scepticism thesis. ther paid in the correspondence between what Dretske defends himself from the thesis of is reported and the informer. radical skepticism (that supports the impossi- bility of knowledge) clearly distinguishing the 4. Systemic model of the Unified Theory From a detailed ap- conditions of an information source from of Information (UTI). proach to system theory considering different what is called the conditions of an information self-organization levels (from self-restructur- channel. While a source generates infor- ing to self-re-creation), knowledge is consti- mation, the conditions of a channel, although tuted in the →UTI by means of interpreting it is crucial for the transmission of infor- data (or meaning assignment) and is the basis mation, do not affect the information circulat- for decision-making, which shapes “practical ing within it. In this respect, the communica- wisdom” (Hofkirchner 1999). tion channel should be considered as a series of conditions which the sign depends on, that UTI refers to different levels of information either does not generate (relevant) infor- rather than dependency relationships, i.e. in- mation, or only generates redundant infor- formation is gradually processed: first, at the mation. In short, the channel offers no rele- syntactic or structural level there is data, then vant alternatives to the source, and what at the semantic or state level there is makes an information channel to be ambigu- knowledge, and, finally, at the pragmatic or be- ous is its charateristics, not the suspicions that havioural level there is practical wisdom. The may or may not circulate information within information processing is performed by it. means of interrelationship and reciprocal ac- tion between adjacent strata and not in terms 3. Floridi's semantic model. According to of a casual progression (as in Dretske’s natu- Floridi´s semantic approach (2005a, 2005b), ralism). In other terms, between micro- and knowledge is constituted in terms of justifiable macro-leves there are upwards- and down- semantic information, i.e. information consti- wards causations (regarded as information tutes the elements for further inquiry. At the processes) cooperating in the self-organizing same time, information is the result of a data processes. modelling process. But unlike Dretske’s natu- ralistic assumption, this data modelling does 5. Conductual model. For example, it is ar- not necessarily represent the intrinsic nature gued that, relating to the conduct and actions glossariumBITri 151 KNOWLEDGE of an agent, knowledge is the potential capac- ‘nourish’ the latter. However, this connection ity that an actor poseses to act effectively. The is disregarded in cases of a radical syntactic ap- effectiveness means to compare the behavior proach, in which the relationship question is and potential outcomes with the objectives avoided just addressing to the technical di- and values of both the actor and those of his mension (as in the MTC), or in a radical prag- community or the communities that he be- matic approach in which only what-is-being- longs to. done is posed, that is, information is consid- ered as a mere instrument of the action and, Within this conceptual framework one argues therefore, the problem of whether the infor- that there are various types of knowledge. The mation refers to states of affairs is ignored (ei- first one is the knowledge of internal infor- ther dealing with a correct apprehension or mation. In this type of knowledge is the po- knowing that p is the case). tential capacity of answering questions with correct answers; usually, the questions on real Although there have been throughout the his- objectives, about the state of one part of the tory of thought countless approaches to world in some time. For this kind of knowledge concerning its definition, possibil- knowledge, it is a precondition that the actor ity, basis and modes, two fundamental models answers without resorting to any external have prevailed: 1) the iconic model, according sources of information. Typically, any answers to which knowledge is an accurate picture (of can be registered in records, which can be used mental nature) of the object of knowledge, by other actors. and 2) the propositional model, whereby knowledge is a truthful proposition. In the The second type of knowledge is knowledge iconic model, where perception and appre- of external information. This is like the previ- hension play a key role, the main problems lie ous one with the exception that in this case the in both the specification of the limits between access to other sources of information is per- object and subject, and the explanation of mitted. non-iconic knowledge (such as logical, mathe- In the third place, thinking is also a way of ef- matical and logical “truths”). However, in the fective action. In this case, starting from avail- propositional model, where scientific state- able information, a process of creating new in- ments play an exemplary role, the unavoidable formation takes place, which may become the circle of the justification of knowledge be- answer to new questions or the spontaneous comes problematic (→Gödel´s incompleteness the- production of information by a thinking agent. orem). Nevertheless, whatever the model of representation, knowledge is distinguished Finally, there is a non-informative knowledge; from a true opinion, insofar as only the former the capacity of effective action is not related knows how to justify itself (though its justifi- to information. It is something that one usu- cation might be partial or problematic). ally sees in artists and athletes. They can have a highly effective conduct most of the time, According to the above, the relationship be- but they are unable to explain or articulate tween information and knowledge must evi- their knowledge on recorded information. dently appear in all those informational ap- proaches considering the semantic dimension, 6. Knowledge and near concepts usually adopting a more analytic notion with a) Knowledge vs. information. From most points respect to information, and a more synthetic of view regarding information and knowledge, one with respect to knowledge. Furthermore, there are close relationships between these a closer proximity to the object is used in in- two concepts, especially as far as the common formation concerns, and to the subject in use of both terms is concerned. Usually, infor- knowledge concerns. mation occupies a lower position than knowledge, and the former –so to speak- 152 glossariumBITri KNOWLEDGE For Dretske -as mentioned above-, of new knowledge-; and often it is continu- "Knowledge is information-produced belief" ously restructured by the entries of new assim- (Dretske 1981, 91-92) and belief always relates ilated information. to "a receiver's background knowledge" (pp. c) Knowledge vs. experience, truth, belief and values. 80-81). From a naturalistic perspective, in Nonetheless, it is not sufficient to provide a which there is a casual dependence between definition of knowledge and explain it with a the external conditions of a living being and couple of examples to have a better understan- and its internal states, information for Dretske ing of it. It is also necessary to deal with a creates experience (sensorial representations) number of related and interrelated concepts. and originates beliefs (cognitive experiences), which underlie the sedimentation of In this vein, we should not forget a concept knowledge. very close to knowledge, and which partly al- lows its acquisition: experience. Experience b) Knowledge and mental states. We can agree, can be defined as the set of living-experiences leaving aside the existing alternative defini- that each individual has been through. And as tions, that knowledge must be identified with such, it makes possible the creation of new a special kind of mental states (neuronal ar- knowledge through enabling the understand- rangements), presenting a set of particular ing of new situations from others that have characteristics, which an individual possesses. been experienced, and to find new answers al- On the one hand, they are mental states lowing us to adapt to new scenarios. achieved by the individual from a process of information assimilation or metabolism. This We should neither forget the concept of truth. characteristic helps to distinguish those men- As it has been defended since Classical tal states of the subject corresponding to Greece, knowledge (or at least a special type knowledge from those corresponding to mere of knowledge, as we wil see) implies truth: if A beliefs, which do not reach the necessary epis- (an individual) knows P, then it is true that P. temic level to be identified as knowledge. If anyone knows that the water molecule con- sists of two hydrogen and one oxygen atoms, In this sense, the semantic content of those then it is true that this molecule presents the mental states coincides with this assimilated arrangement of atoms. And it is knowledge information. And the mental states, con- and its arising actions that have to be in tune versely, act as a guide for actions and conduct with what really happens. Reality deals with re- of that individual; in other words, they control fining and improving knowledge, rejecting and the decisions made by the subject. cleaning our heads from this supposed We can reflect this characterization in the fol- knowledge (pseudo-knowledge) that does not lowing synthetic expresion: Knowledge = the work and is not attuned. mental states of an individual constructed Another closely related concept is belief, un- from the assimilation of information, which derstood as the mental state that an individual steer the actions performed by the subject. possesses. Because knowledge (or at least one However, the characteristics of knowledge do type of knowledge), besides truth, implies not end here. We can elaborate a little more judgement or belief: in order that someone about this special kind of mental states. knows P, this someone has to believe that P. Knowledge, unlike data and information, is That is, knowledge must maintain a commit- closely related to the actions and decisions of ment to the truth of P. If someone knows that the subject, we can even evaluate this the water molecule consists of two atoms of knowledge using as indicators such actions hydrogen and one of oxygen, then that some- and decisions. Moreover, knowledge is the one must believe that this molecule presents critical factor that permits the holder to assim- the arrangement of atoms. ilate new information -therefore, the creation glossariumBITri 153 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT And finally, when we are talking about G. Wissensmanagement [business management, knowledge, we can not avoid the realm of val- ICT, Information Society] discipline ues. Values determine the background that In the last decade, a strong movement con- governs our actions and therefore our way of cerning a new discipline has emerged and de- knowing and our knowledge. veloped, focused on the scope of organiza- References tions: Knowledge Management. This disci- ― DRETSKE, Fred I. (1981). Knowledge and the pline deals with designing systems and strate- Flow of Information. Cambridge: The MIT gies to systematically use the knowledge in- Press/Bradford. Books. volved in an organization. Applying the con- ― FLORIDI, Luciano (2005a). Is Semantic Infor- cept of Knowledge Management to the con- mation Meaningful Data? in Philosophy and Phe- text of companies has been an important nomenological Research, 70(2), 351-370. ― FLORIDI, Luciano (2005b). Semantic Conceptions source of competitive advantage that can en- of Information. In E. N. Zahlta (ed.) Stanford En- sure the proper functioning and survival of the cyclopedia of Philisophy. Stanford: The Metaphysics companies in the present economic scenario Research Lab. [Online] 154 glossariumBITri KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT knowledge is any mental state of a subject (in accessible to other individuals directly. To short, a concrete neuronal provision) that has show that someone, A, has knowledge of this been caused by a determined information and type we usually use the expression "A knows which allows the subject in question to make that P" (where P is usually a statement). There- certain adequate decisions and carry out prac- fore, knowing that water is H2O or knowing tical action derived from the decisions (Audi, that when the photocopying machine has the 1988; Crayling, 1998). On the other hand, red light on someone should change the car- knowledge becomes a value to an organization tridge are two examples of this type of when it has a clear contribution in achieving knowledge. the goals of the organization. Let us go to the second group of knowledge. It is possible to enrich and make more opera- For individual knowledge we can understand tional and functional this first intuitive defini- all knowledge which an individual of an organ- tion of Knowledge Management if we keep in ization possesses. Therefore, the individual our mind the existence of different types of knowledge of a person consists of all explicit knowledge within an organization, and that, and tacit knowledge possessed by this mem- therefore, it is essential to respect the special ber. Individual skills, personal contacts and re- nature of each in order to design the most ap- lationships or technical knowledge that a per- propriate management. son posseses can be identified as a part of the individual knowledge that he has. In this sense, it is possible to distinguish 6 types of knowledge within an organization. Conversely, corporate or organizational These 6 types can be grouped together in the knowledge is the knowledge that can be at- following three pairs: tributed to an organization, the owner of the organization. This knowledge is usually physi- a) Tacit Knowledge / Explicit Knowledge cally presented in some kind of document. b) Individual Knowledge / Organizational or The databases purchased by an organization Corporate Knowledge or intellectual property and patents that they c) Internal Knowledge / External develop are two clear examples of this type of Knowledge knowledge. Let us begin with the first pair. Tacit Finally we have the third last group. The inter- knowledge is the knowledge that is based on nal knowledge is that knowledge which is crit- personal experience and in many cases is iden- ical for the appropriate functioning of an or- tified with the skills of the subject. Its main ganization. In other words: the knowledge feature is that it is hardly transmissible or com- without which it would be impossible for the municable; therefore, it is not accessible to the organization to operate. If we identify a chem- other individuals in a direct way. To show that ical laboratory as an organization, the someone, A, has knowledge of this type, we knowledge possessed by the chemists of this normally use the expression "A knows P" laboratory or the patents developed by them (where P is usually a verb). In the same way, are two good examples of internal knowledge there are several examples of such knowledge: of the organization. knowing how to swim, knowing to ride a bicy- External knowledge, however, is that cle, knowing to drive a car, knowing to speak knowledge that an organization uses to inter- in public or to articulate and lead a group of act with other organizations. The knowledge people. in the published reports of the organization or Explicit knowledge, in contrast, is character- on its external website are examples of this last ized by being directly encoded in a representa- type of knowledge. tion system such as natural language. Thus, it is easily transmitted or communicated and it is glossariumBITri 155 KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION With the definition of these six types of Tarapanoff, Kira (org.) (2006). Inteligência, infor- knowledge in hand we can propose a much mação e conhecimento. Brasilia: IBICT-UNESCO, págs 117-138. more complex second definition of ― PÉREZ-MONTORO GUTIÉRREZ, Mario (2005). Knowledge Management in organizations. “Sistemas de gestión de contenidos en la gestión del conocimiento”. [Online]. BiD: textos universitaris In this sense, Knowledge Management within de Biblioteconomia i Documentació, juny, núm. 14, an organization may be understood as the dis- 2005. 156 glossariumBITri KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION SYSTEM information classification, information re- KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION trieval, information visualization, and SYSTEM (S. sistemanas de organización del knowledge acquisition, amongst others. conocimiento, F. Systèmes de organisation de la connaissances, G. WissensOrganisation Systeme It should not be confused with knowledge [information science] concpet management (KM), since the latter is focused on the field of organizations, whereas KO has The concept Knowledge Organization System a more general orientation, less focused on the (aka KOS) group different classification concrete returns of organizations, which ob- schemes used to organize knowledge. Some jectives are more concrete and explicit. Never- KOSs are library classifications, taxonomies, theless, KM is supported by KO as one of its subject headings, thesauri, ontologies, etc. basic processes and techniques. KOS is a corner stone in Knowledge Organi- zation tools. A great number of methods to organize knowledge are based on principles stated by Knowledge Organization techniques are used librarians. Some librarian resources used in to build KOSs. These techniques outline prin- KO are controlled vocabularies and classifica- ciples to build, manage, and visualize KOS. tion schemes (v. indexing language, thesaurus, Knowledge Organization Systems show a sim- and taxonomy). plified view of the concepts of a domain. The goal is provide a way to improve the under- Fields related are often overlapped, some of standing and the management of a field of these fields and the resources that they de- knowledge. velop are: On account of the variety of disciplines needs Linguistics: NLP tools like taggers, stem- to facilitate their understanding, KO Systems mers, terminological and lexical databases, etc. are present in a wide range of fields of Artificial Intelligence: ontologies, neural knowledge. There are examples of KOS in e- networks, and reasoning engines. learning, Artificial Intelligence, Software Engi- neering, and Information Science. Each of Statistics and data mining: classifier and these fields gives to KO Systems one or more clustering algorithms. different names, and design these KOS in a Information Extraction and Retrieval: different way, according its specific goals. In named entities recognition and classification, this manner, e-learning talks about mind maps correference resolution, etc. and concept maps; Artificial Intelligence ad- dress ontologies and semantic networks; Soft- Librarian and information science: re- sources controlled vocabularies and classifica- ware Engineering talks about UML diagrams; tion schemes, indexing techniques, metadata and Information Science use thesauri, subject vocabularies. headings, library classifications, etc. Although, each approach has different semantic struc- Computer science: design applications to or- tures depending on its goals, all of them col- ganize and retrieve. lect a domain vocabulary to represent con- References cepts, and semantic relationships among these concepts. ― ZENG, M.L. & CHAN, L.M. (2004) Trends and is- sues in establishing interoperability among The construction of a KOS requires a high in- knowledge organization systems. Journal of the Ameri- tellectual effort to reach an agreement about can Society for Information Science and Technology, 55 (5), the representation. This implies to analyze the pp. 377-395. domain to extract the main concepts and rela- (SSC. –ed.-; SSC, JML) tionships and to agree these analyses in order to show a shared representation. This is a la- borious and exhausting work with frequent glossariumBITri 157 KOLMOGOROV COMPLEXITY delays. These problems might be minimized KOLMOGOROV COMPLEXITY (S. Com- with a systematic methodology to develop plejidad de Kolmogorov, F. Complexité de Kolmogo- these models. Examples came from Software rov, G. Kolmogorow-Komplexität) [AIT, computer Engineering and Ontology Engineering. Sev- science, complexity theory, coding theory] con- eral software applications have been imple- cept mented to easy these tasks. Contents. 1) Absolute and relative complexity One of the main bottlenecks is knowledge ac- measures; 2) Complexity with respect to an algorithm; 3) quisition. This phase tries to identify the main Absolute Kolmogorov complexity; 4) Diversity of naming, concepts, by different information sources approaches and applications. and experts. Next step, it is conceptualization, 1. Absolute and relative complexity that is structure the domain. This implies ana- measures. Kolmogorov complexity is an al- lyze terminology, synonyms, hierarchical, and gorithmic measure or measure of algorithmic associative structures. Besides these structures information. It is defined for constructive ob- it is important to identify the constraints that jects, such as words in some alphabet. If x is a present each relation or attribute. word, then the original Kolmogorov complex- Some approaches have been made to group ity C(x) of a word x (also denoted by K(x)) is different KOSs. In this regard and from the taken to be equal to: ontology engineering point of view, thesauri the size of the shortest program (in number and other library classification are called light of symbols) for a universal Turing ma- ontologies, in contrast to true ontologies chine U that without additional data, com- (Daconta et al., 2003; 157; Lassila, O. y putes the string x and terminates. McGuinness, D. L., 2001; Gruninger y Uschold, 2002). As Turing machines are recursive algorithms, the original Kolmogorov complexity C(x) is References a recursive complexity measure. ― ZENG, M.L. & CHAN, L.M. (2004). Trends and is- This measure is called absolute Kolmogorov com- sues in establishing interoperability among knowledge organization systems. Journal of the Ameri- plexity because Kolmogorov complexity has can Society for Information Science and Technology, 55 (5), also a relative form C(x | y). Namely, the rela- pp. 377-395. tive Kolmogorov complexity C(x | y) of the ― LASSILA, Ora y MCGUINNESS, Deborah (2009). word x relative to the word y is taken to be The Role of Frame-Based Representation on the Se- mantic Web. KSL Tech Report Number KSL-01-02. equal to: rithm. The Kolmogorov complexity CA(x) of (SSC. –ed.-; SSC, JML) an object (word) x with respect to an algo- rithm A is defined as CA(x) = min {l(p); A(p) = x} 158 glossariumBITri KOLMOGOROV COMPLEXITY in the case when there is a word p such program length, algorithmic randomness, stochastic that A(p) = x; complexity, information-theoretic complexity, complex- ity, randomness, KCS (Kolmogorov-Chaitin-Sol- otherwise CA(x) is not defined. omonoff) complexity, information size, and algo- If the Church-Turing Thesis (→Turing Halting rithmic entropy. Theorem) is accepted, then any algorithm is Different names reflect different approaches modeled by a Turing machine and Kolmogo- to the concept. When we want to know how rov complexity is considered only for Turing difficult it might be computing or constructing machines. some object x with recursive algorithms, Kol- 3. Absolute Kolmogorov complexity. Solo- mogorov or algorithmic complexity is an appropriate monoff (1964), Kolmogorov (1965), and name. When the question is how much infor- Chaitin (1969) proved that there is an invariant mation we need to build or compute x with up to some additive constant Kolmogorov given algorithms, the name information size of x complexity C(x). It is called absolute Kolmogorov better reflects the situation. When we consider complexity because there is also relative Kolmogo- probabilistic aspects of x, e.g., randomness, al- rov complexity C(x|y). Namely, there is a Turing gorithmic entropy might be the best name. machine U such that for any Turing ma- Many versions of Kolmogorov complexity chine T, there is a constant cUT such that for all have been introduced. The most known of words x, we have them are: uniform complexity KR(x), prefix com- plexity or prefix-free complexity K(x), monotone com- CU(x) ≤ CT(x) + cUT plexity Km(x), conditional Kolmogorov complexity The machine U is a universal Turing machine. CD(x), time-bounded Kolmogorov complexity Ct(x), This makes the concept of Kolmogorov com- space-bounded Kolmogorov complexity Cs(x), and re- plexity invariant up to an additive constant if source-bounded Kolmogorov complexity Ct,s(x). In we put C(x) = CU(x). addition, Kolmogorov complexity has been However, it is necessary to understand that extended to infinite processes, infinite words this invariance is not absolute because the (Chaitin, 1976; 1977), super-recursive algo- rithms (Burgin, 1995; 2005; Schmidhuber, value of the constant cUT depends on the choice of the universal Turing ma- 2002), quantum computations (Svozil, 1996) chine U (Weinstein, 2003; Burgin, 2005). and algorithmic problems (Burgin, 2010a). It was demonstrated that Kolmogorov com- Existence of different versions of Kolmogo- plexity cannot be computed by a Turing ma- rov complexity caused a necessity to build a chine or by any other recursive algorithm unified algorithmic information measure. (Kolmogorov, 1965) but can be computed by Such a theory has been developed as an →ax- an inductive Turing machine (Burgin, 1982). iomatic algorithmic complexity (Burgin, 1982; When the length of a word tends to infinity, 1990; 2005; 2010). its Kolmogorov complexity also tends to in- References finity. ― BURGIN, M. (1982). Generalized Kolmogorov 4. Diversity of naming, approaches and complexity and duality in theory of computations. applications. Although the majority of re- Soviet Math. Dokl., v.25, No. 3, pp. 19–23 ― BURGIN, M. (1990). Generalized Kolmogorov searchers use Kolmogorov complexity as the stand- Complexity and other Dual Complexity Measures. ard name for this measure, there are authors Cybernetics, No. 4, pp. 21–29 who prefer a different name. In particular, the ― BURGIN, M. (1995). Algorithmic Approach in following names of this concept are used: algo- the Dynamic Theory of Information. Notices of the rithmic information content, algorithmic information, Russian Academy of Sciences, v. 342, No. 1, pp. 7-10 ― BURGIN, M. (2005). Super-recursive algorithms, Mono- program-size complexity, information content, shortest graphs in computer science, Springer. glossariumBITri 159 KOLMOGOROV COMPLEXITY ― BURGIN, M. (2010). Theory of Information: Fundamen- ― SCHMIDHUBER, J. (2002). Hierarchies of Gener- tality, Diversity and Unification. Singapore: World Sci- alized Kolmogorov Complexities and Nonenumera- entific Publishing ble Universal Measures Computable in the Limit. In- ― BURGIN, M. (2010). Algorithmic Complexity of ternational Journal of Foundations of Computer Science, v. Computational Problems. International Journal of Com- 3, No. 4, pp. 587-612 puting & Information Technology, 2010, v. 2, No. 1, pp. ― SOLOMONOFF, R. (June 1964). "A Formal The- 149-187 ory of Inductive Inference Part II". Information and ― CHAITIN, G. J. (1969). "On the Simplicity and Control 7 (2): 224–254. Speed of Programs for Computing Infinite Sets of ― SOLOMONOFF, R. (March 1964). "A Formal Natural Numbers" (PDF). Journal of the ACM, Vol. Theory of Inductive Inference Part I". Information 16, pp. 407-422. and Control, Vol. 7, pp. 1–22. ― CHAITIN, G.J. (1976). Information theoretic char- ― SVOZIL. K. (1996). Quantum Algorithmic Infor- acterizations of recursive infinite strings. Theoretical mation Theory. Journal of Universal Computer Science, v. Computer Science, v. 2, pp. 45–48 2, pp. 311-346 ― CHAITIN, G.J. (1977). Algorithmic information ― WEINSTEIN, S. Objectivity, information, and Maxwell's theory. IBM Journal of Research and Development, v.21, demon, Preprint, PhilSci-Archive, 2003. [Online] No. 4, pp. 350-359 160 glossariumBITri glossariumBITri 161 L LIBRARY SCIENCE (S. biblioteconomçia, F. psychology, subjective idealism and methodo- sciences des bibliothèques, bibliothéconomie, G. logical individualism. But simultaneously, an Bibliotheks-, Dokumentations- wissenschaft intermediate approach emerged which could [research, information management] concept be branded as a neutral specialisation (even formal or abstract), the domain-analytic approach, Branch of the information sciences devoted to related to hermeneutics, semiotics and social the theoretical and technical knowledge con- constructivism (Capurro & Hjørland 2003). cerning organization and administration of li- braries. It deals with the managing of collec- According to Griffith’s definition (1980), “In- tions and information resources, and the pro- formation Science is concerned with the gen- vision of user access. eration, collection, organisation, interpreta- tion, storage, retrieval, dissemination, trans- At the beginning of the 20th century, the term formation and use of information, with particu- "information" was frequently linked to Special lar emphasis on the applications of modern Librarianship in the English speaking world. In technologies in these areas”. The objective of the 1960s and after a period in which this ac- its disciplinary framework is “to create and tivity was associated to Documentation, it structure a body of scientific, technological converged with what was labelled as Infor- and system knowledge related to information mation Science (which in some Latin-American transfer”. Thus –despite the problematic or countries has been translated into “Ciencia de contingent linkage to used tools made by Grif- la Información”, with a sense close to the English usage). According to Capurro and fith– it can be stated that we are dealing with Hjørland (2003), this was motivated by: (i) the a science which contains elements being theo- growing interest in computer applications, (ii) retical (except for its specific application) and the influence of Shannon’s theory, and (iii) the applied (aimed at services and products). current information processing paradigm in Regarding the conceptualisation of infor- cognitive sciences. mation carried out in this field, it can be stated Considering Library Science as academic dis- that special focus is put on two confronted cipline related to librarians and documental- meanings: 1) the information as an object in ists, two clear trends have been distinguished: documents and 2) its radical subjectivisation, the general approach, mainly focused on public i.e. information as everything “that can be in- libraries with emphasis in general education formative to someone”. and significantly detached from the References knowledge it serves; and the specialised approach, ― CAPURRO, R. & HJORLAND, B. (2003). The aimed at specific knowledge domains. How- Concept of Information. Annual Review of Information ever, although this second approach was rela- Science and Technology, Ed. B. Cronin, 37(8), 343-411. tively dominant until the 1970s, thereafter it [Draft version available online] lost its leading position as education tended to glossariumBITri 163 ― GRIFFITH, B. C. (Ed.) (1980). Key papers in infor- mation science. New York: Knowledge Industry Publi- cations. ― MARTÍNEZ DE SOUSA, J. (1993). Diccionario de bi- bliología y ciencias afines. Madrid: Fundación Sánchez Ruipérez. ― RODRÍGUEZ BRAVO, B. (2002). El documento: en- tre la tradición y la renovación. Gijón: Trea. ― WILSON, J. (ed.) (2002). The Practitioner’s Guide to Effective Knowledge Management. Chicago: Melcrum Publishing. (BR –ed.- ; JMD, BR) 164 glossariumBITri M MATHEMATICAL STRATUM OF THE (Burgin 2010b). There are two forms of infor- GTI (S. Sustrato matemático de la TGI,, F. La mation dynamics depiction in categories: the strate mathématique de la TGI, G Die mathematische categorical and functorial representa- Substrat der GTI) [General Theory of tions. The categorical representation of infor- Information] theory mation dynamics preserves internal structures of information spaces associated with in- The mathematical stratum of the General Theory → fological systems as their state or phase spaces. of Information (GTI) builds mathematical mod- In it, portions of information are modeled by els of information, information processes and categorical information operators. The functo- information processing systems. According to rial representation of information dynamics pre- the basic principles of GTI, information is in- serves external structures of information trinsically related to transformations. That is spaces associated with infological systems as why portions of information are modeled by their state or phase spaces. In it, portions of information operators in infological system information are modeled by functorial infor- representation spaces or simply in information mation operators. spaces. Informally, an information space is a space where information functions (acts). In References the formalized approach, information spaces ― BURGIN, M. (2010a). Theory of Information: Fun- are constructed as state or phase spaces of in- damentality, Diversity and Unification. Singapore: fological systems. It is possible to use different World Scientific Publishing. mathematical structures for state/phase repre- ― BURGIN, M. (2010b). Information Operators in Categorical Information Spaces. Information, 1(1), 119- sentation. Thus, the mathematical stratum of 152. [Online] http://www.mdpi.com/2078- the GTI is build as an operator theory in in- 2489/1/2/119/ [Accessed: 27/02/2011] formation spaces based on principles of this theory, which are translated into postulates (MB) and axioms. There are two types of mathematical models MENTAL CONTENT (S. contenido mental, of information: (1) information processes and F. contenú mentale, G. mentaler Inhalt) [mind, se- (2) information processing systems. This sep- mantics, psicology, cognitive science] concept aration results in two approaches: functional It is commonly assumed that mental states can and categorical. be characterized by a certain psychological at- titude and a certain content. The content of a In the functional approach, the information space is represented by functional spaces, mental state is a mental content. A precedent such as Hilbert spaces or Banach spaces, while of that analysis can be found in Russell. Be- portions of information are modeled by oper- lieving, desiring, remembering, feeling, per- ators in these spaces. ceiving, etc., are examples of psychological at- titudes. What is believed, what is desired, what In the categorical approach, information is remembered, what is felt, what is perceived, spaces are represented by abstract categories glossariumBITri 165 MESSAGE etc., would be the mental content that in each experts would use certain terms, and the rela- case is associated with those attitudes. tionships with the external world. Descartes and Frege are two paradigmatic classical exam- Very often, it is also assumed that there are ples of internism. Externism was introduced two big classes of mental contents: conceptual by authors like Putnam, Burge and Kripke. and non-conceptual ones. Conceptual content is the semantic content that we can find in References words, expressions and sentences of a lan- The bibliographic resources offered by David Chalmers guage. The content that beliefs, desires, re- in his website are extremely useful: memberings, etc., typically have is the same as 166 glossariumBITri MESSAGE tinction, 3) Analysis of Messages, 4) Fallibility and effi- Message and information are related but not ciency of messages, 5) Beyond human contexts: a crossroad identical concepts: between biology and hermeneutics ― a message is sender-dependent, i.e. it is 1. Introduction. The message plays such a based on a heteronomic or asymmetric central role in communication processes that structure. This is not the case of infor- “the Theory of Communication is largely a mation: we receive a message, but we ask theory of messages” (Ferrater Mora 1994). for information, However, the common direct association be- ― a message is supposed to bring something tween message and information arises from a new and/or relevant to the receiver. This is confusion –even a conceptual void- which also the case of information, source can be found in Shannon’s communi- cation model. For the sake of improving our ― a message can be coded and transmitted understanding of both message and infor- through different media or messengers. mation, a clarification is needed in order to ad- This is also the case of information, dress the involved phenomena better. ― a message is an utterance that gives rise to the receiver's selection through a release If communication requires at least a sender, mechanism or interpretation. receiver, a medium and a message, but regard- ing McLuhan famous dictum “the medium is Thus, we observe they are interrelated con- the message”, what is then a message? Bring- cepts but clearly not coincident. How might ing here some clarity, restoring its importance, they be distinguished? The theory of social is perhaps a way to circumvent the “disange- systems provides us here some insights. Fol- lium of current times” referred by Sloterdijk lowing Luhmann, a communication process (1997) or the “phantasmagorical” character of within a social system is a three dimensional new media evoked by Zizek (1997). juncture of a meaning offer, selection of meaning and understanding (Luhmann 1987, 2. Message and information, from Shan- 196, →Autopoiesis). Considering message as non’s confusion towards a systematic dis- meaning offer, and information as its selec- tinction. Claude Shannon's theory of commu- tion, we already have a distinction: message nication (Shannon 1948) is not a theory about ("Mitteilung") is the action of offering some- information transmission but about message thing (potentially) meaningful to a social sys- transmission. Shannon uses the term 'message' tem ("Sinnangebot"); information ("Infor- instead of 'information' in its usual meaning as mation") is the process of selecting meaning 'knowledge communicated'. The concept of from different possibilities offered by a mes- information within this theory refers to the sage; and understanding ("Verstehen") is the in- number of binary choices in order to create or tegration of the selected meaning within the codify – a message. In reality – as it was con- system. Communication melts these differ- ceived and applied – the theory is about signal ences towards a unity. transmission and the ways in which to make it more reliable. Shannon correlates information Message, as meaning offer is sender depend- and uncertainty, as opposed to the everyday ent, therefore heteronomous. We receive mes- meaning of information. The semantic and sages, but we look for information, which we pragmatic aspects are excluded from this engi- can only do if a meaning offer exists. A mes- neering perspective of communication. War- sage brings to the recipient something new or ren Weaver found Shannon's definition of in- surprising, causing uncertainty. It can be formation as counterintuitive (Shannon & through different means codified and trans- Weaver 1972). But Shannon had indeed sub- mitted, arriving to recipients somehow dis- stituted the everyday meaning by using the torted. Finally, the selection of meanings of- word message. fered by the message always takes place over glossariumBITri 167 MESSAGE the background of a pre-understanding. Re- a sender of messages within a dialogical system cipients understand messages distinguishing remains a subordinate option. Since the rise of between the meanings offered and selected. the Internet things started to change, at least The Recipient can doubt about the message, concerning the easier and cheaper possibility interpreting either way or even neglecting it. for many receivers to become senders, includ- The heteronomy of the message stands there- ing such hierarchical distribution options as fore against the autonomy of interpreting. one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-many and many-to-one. 3. Analysis of Messages. Messages admit an Aristotelian analysis in terms of form, goal, These distribution hierarchies also correspond content, producers (and recipients). to power constellations, which play a crucial role determining contents, producers and recipi- Regarding its form, messages can be primarily ents: Who is allowed to send and preserve? distinguished between: imperatives, indicatives What messages can be sent? Which recipients and optionals. However, from the point of view can be addressed? How can it be done (includ- of the message directivity, two extreme forms ing technical conditions)? What purposes are can also be identified: 1) a human sender, an allowed? Whereas in the antiquity the dissem- individual or a group, may believe to have a ination of messages was a sign of god and message for everybody and for all times, and power, with the advent of philosophy the le- vice versa, 2) someone may think everything is gitimacy of this right came into question. His- a message to him/her. Between these two torically a change from a vertical message poles there are several possible hierarchies. structure to a horizontal one can be observed The form of the message has a basic constraint (Capurro 2003a, Díaz & Al Hadithi 2009). The related to the effectiveness: in order to select heteronomous determination of messages or interpret a message the receiver must have gives rise to its vertical character; however, some kind of common pre-understanding philosophical and scientific discourses are ex- with the sender of the message, for instance a amples of how a heteronomous message can similar form or (linguistic) code. be embedded into a horizontal structure, i.e. “dialogical”. In his theory of communication or "com- municology" Vilem Flusser makes a basic dis- Concerning the possibilities and constraints of tinction concerning two goals of communica- digital media with respect to power constella- tion: tion and the resulting verticality or horizontal- ity of communication, there is an ongoing de- ― the dialogical goal, aiming at the creation of bate on the future structure of the Internet. new information, The pressure of established information oli- ― the discursive goal, aiming at the distribution gopoles (= concentration of power in few of information (Flusser 1996, →Dialogic vs. hands) will not vanish although it may de- Discursive). crease. At the same time new forms of domi- A third goal related to the preservation of in- nation and exclusion arise (Capurro et al 2007, formation could be added, namely conserva- →Critical Theory of Information, Fuchs 2009). tional, embracing librarian and archivist activi- A thorough analysis of messages (regarding ties. production, transmission and reception) con- According to Flusser the age of mass media cern different aspects such as origin, purpose, with their hierarchical one-to-many structure and content of messages, power structures, of information distributors –we could call this techniques and means of diffusion, history of the CNN-principle– would finally dominate messages and messengers, coding and inter- all forms of information creation. In other preting messages, as well as psychological, po- words, the possibility for a receiver to become 168 glossariumBITri MESSAGE litical, economic, aesthetic, ethical and reli- The different theories on the production of gious aspects. Therefore an interdisciplinary messages generally agree on the idea that par- stage, named →angeletics, has been postulated takers are subject to the same kind of cognitive where media studies, the study of signs (semi- dynamics at the planning of messages. otics) and their interpretation (→hermeneutics) Regarding the more or less interactive charac- are specifically convened. ter of communication, which depends on the 4. Fallibility and efficiency of messages. form and related power constellations men- What kind of specific criteria can be postu- tioned above, the message production can be lated concerning the way a sender, a medium more or less cooperative. Indeed, the repre- and a receiver of messages should act in order sentations produced by the sender do not "in- to be successful under finite conditions? By fi- ject" a certain meaning in a passive receptor. nite conditions we mean that neither the The simultaneous and interactive character of sender, nor the messenger, nor the receiver communication (if it is horizontal as argued have any kind of certainty that their actions above), as well as the constant exchange of will fit the ideal situation in which: roles between sender and receiver, leads to a model where the message is produced as a re- ― a sender addresses a receiver, sending sult of the collaboration of the partakers. The him/her a message that is new and relevant different plans at stake when transmitting and for him/her, i.e., he/she follows the princi- interpreting a message must adapt instantane- ple of respect, ously to the speech situation, forcing the ― a messenger brings the message undistorted agents to adapt their messages to the different to the receiver, i.e., he/she follows the prin- constraints of the communicative context. ciple of faithfulness, ― a receiver reserves judgement, based on a 5. Beyond human contexts: a crossroad The process of interpretation, about whether between biology and hermeneutics. concept of message has also been frequently the message is true or not, i.e., he/she fol- used in non-human contexts, especially in bi- lows the principle of reservation. ology (genetics, molecular biology). However, In order to achieve the goals pursued in mes- the communication model used above to sage production (mentioned above), the make a distinction between message and in- sender requires a strategy and planning on formation, as well as the analysis used to get a how messages should be generated, structured deeper understanding of messages has to be and released. The cognitive processes in- simplified. Considering the original twofold volved in the planning of a message addressed meaning of the term 'information' as 'mould- to a certain target may be conscious or uncon- ing matter' and as 'knowledge communicated' scious. The main objective of the sender as he we can say that a cell or, more generally, a liv- intends to send a message is to affect the con- ing system, is in-formed on the basis of message duct and/or mental architecture of the re- selection in order to satisfy its constraints. More- ceiver. The design of the message may differ over, a self-organizing system can be seen as a depending on which subsidiary goals are pur- system able to make a good behavioural selec- sued (e.g., the desire to be polite), and may also tion among the offer of behaviours within the vary depending on the cognitive, rhetorical, received messages and with respect to its sur- social, strategic, etc. capacities of the individu- vival (→autopoiesis). The dynamics of the selec- als involved. As a result, several plans are exe- tion mechanism has to be understood in a di- cuted simultaneously when a message is pro- achronic perspective. duced, transmitted and interpreted. The physicist Carl-Friedrich von Weiszäcker remarks that the modern concept of infor- mation is a new way of asking for what Plato glossariumBITri 169 MIND and Aristotle called idéa or morphé (Weizsäcker ― WEIZSÄCKER, C.F. von (1974). Die Einheit der Natur. Munich. 1974). But what is the main difference be- ― ZIZEK, S. (1997). Die Pest der Phantasmen. Vienna: Passa- tween Plato's concept of participation (me- gen Verlag. thexis) as in-formation and today's view of (RC –ed.-; JMD, RC) communication? Answer: the inversion of the relation between time and form. According to today's evolutionary perspective forms evolve MIND (S. mente, F. esprit, G. Geist) [transdisci- within the horizon of time not the other way plinar, semántica] concept round (Matsuno 1998). The process of mes- The notions of mind, psyche, soul, even con- sages interpretation also evolves in time. Un- sciousness, can be considered equivalent. Per- derstanding means originally the very fact of ceiving, remembering, believing, desiring, rea- being able to provide a correct answer to given soning, taking decisions, imagining, under- possibilities (or messages). This capability standing, having emotions and feelings, etc., evolves “in time” from a very elementary way are examples of mental states and processes. of responding to messages to a more complex The scientific discipline directly concerned way of interpreting messages (Capurro with the mind is psychology, and the philo- 2003b). sophical discipline concerned with the mind is References the philosophy of mind. There is, however, an area of knowledge interested in mind more ― CAPURRO, R. (2003a). Theorie der Botschaft, in Ethik im Netz. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 105-122. generally –both human and animal, natural 170 glossariumBITri MIND states –beliefs, desires, memories, etc.- with a ― CHALMERS, D. (1996). The Conscious Mind. Ox- semantic content able to represent objects and ford: Oxford Univ. Press. ― CHALMERS, D. (2002). Philosophy of Mind. Clas- states of affairs. Qualitative character is a peculiar sical and Contemporary Readings. Oxford: Oxford quality or phenomenological feature. It is Univ. Press. manifest in mental states with a content full of ― CHURCHLAND, P. (1984). Matter and Conscious- experiential ingredients. Finally, personal identity ness. A Contemporary Introduction to the Philoso- phy of Mind. Cambridge: MIT Press. makes reference to our enduring existence as ― DENNETT, D. (1996). Kinds of Minds. New York: persons with a “self”, or an “ego”. The three Basic Books. aspects entail very hard problems, both scien- ― FLANAGAN, O. (1984). The Science of the Mind. tific and philosophical. Cambridge: MIT Press. ― GREGORY, R. (ed.) (1987). The Oxford Compan- We need to make reference to another field of ion to the Mind. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. problems. The mind can be considered: a sub- ― GUTTENPLAN, S. (ed.) (1996). A Companion to stance, a set of properties or attributes, or the the Philosophy of Mind. Oxford: Blackwell. ― HAUGELAND, J. (ed.) (1981). Mind Design. Cam- result of quite a peculiar sort of description. bridge: MIT Press. The realistic compromises of the first option ― HAUGELAND, J. (ed.) (1985). Artificial Intelli- are stronger that those of the second option, gence, The Very Idea. Cambridge: MIT Press. and these ones are stronger than those of the ― HAUGELAND, J. (ed.) (1997). Mind Design II. Cambridge: MIT Press. third one. The first option is the one of Platon ― HEIL, J. (2004). Philosophy of Mind. A Guide and and Descartes, a dualism of substances –the Onthology. Oxford: Clarendon Press. mind as a different substance than the physi- ― KIM, J. (1996). Philosophy of Mind. Oxford: West- cal, material or extensive substance. The sec- view Press. ond option is maintained by Aristotle and by ― LYCAN, W. (ed.) (1990). Mind and Cognition. Cambridge: Blackwell. many contemporary authors. The third option ― NAGEL, T. (1986). The View from Nowhere. New is favoured by eliminativism. According to York: Oxford Univ. Press. eliminativism, the mind would not have an ob- ― O’HEAR, A. (1998). Current Issues in Philosophy jective reality with independence of a certain of Mind. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. ― OSHERSON, D. (1990). An Invitation to Cognitive way of describing and interpreting some sorts Science, 3 vols. Cambridge: MIT Press. of phenomena, including here a certain way of ― ROSENTHAL, D. (ed.) (1991). The Nature of describing and interpreting some phenomena Mind. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. having to do with our own body and our be- ― SEARLE, J. (1983). Intentionality. An Essay in the haviour. Philosophy of Mind. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. The last point worthy of mention is that per- ― SEARLE, J. (1992). The Rediscovery of Mind. Cam- haps we would not have to speak of “the bridge: The MIT Press. ― SOSA, E. & VILLANUEVA, E. (2003). The Philos- mind” in general, but of different “kinds of ophy of Mind. Oxford: Blackwell. minds”. There could be purely semantic, con- ― STICH, S. (2003) The Blackwell Guide to Philoso- ceptual, or cognitive minds in contrast with phy of Mind. Oxford: Blackwell. other much more qualitative, non-conceptual, ― TYE, M. (1995). Ten Problems of Consciousness. A Representational Theory of the Phenomenal Mind. or experiential minds. There could be natural Cambridge: MIT Press. and artificial minds. There could be very sim- ple minds and very sophisticated minds. There (ML) could be human minds and non-human minds, etc. References The bibliographic resources offered by David Chalmers in his website are extremely useful: glossariumBITri 171 glossariumBITri 172 N NEGANTROPY (S. negantropía, F. néguentro- ― SCHRÖDINGER, E. (1944). What is life? The physi- cal aspect of the living cell. Cambridge: Cambridge Uni- pie, G. Negentropie) [statistical physics, biology] versity Press. concept ― WEIZSÄCKER, C.F. von. (1985). Aufbau der Physik. Negantropy is the negative value of the →en- Munich: Hanser. tropy. Although the concept was first used by (JMD) Erwin Schrödinger in 1943, who stated that “life feeds on negative entropy” (1944), the (S. term “negantropy” was first coined by the NON-INFORMATIONAL ACCESS , F. , G. French physicist Léon Brillouin (1953), who acceso no informacional schéma conceptuel Be- griffslandkarte) [philosophy of mind, cognition] generalised the second law of thermodynam- ics as: in any transformation of a closed sys- concept tem, the quantity “entropy minus infor- A non-informational access is an access that is mation” must always increase over time or not informational. Non-informational access may, at best, remain constant. Moreover, Bril- may be physical or experiential. In that sense, louin’s theory of information is considered as informational access is in contrast both with a consequence of the negentropy principle, physical access and with experiential –or qual- which might be illustrated by the negentropy itative- access. To have informational access cicle: negentropy–information–decision– to a certain amount of money is not the same negentropy. as to have physical access to that amount of money. To have informational access to a cer- Criticizing the use of this term, Carl Friedrich tain state of pain is not the same either than to von Weizsäcker stated: “Information has been have an experiential access to that state of correlated with knowledge, entropy with igno- pain. rance and consequently information has been labelled as negentropy. But this is a conceptual Of course, we can elaborate theories about in- or verbal lack of clarity” (1985). To overcome formation according to which information is such obscurity he distinguished between poten- identified with certain physical states or prop- tial information (designated by Shannon’s en- erties. In addition, we can elaborate theories tropy) and actual information, which is factual about experience according to which experi- and present. By knowing the macro-state of an ence is identified with some sorts of informa- object, the potential information is bounded; tional states. However, examples as those while the specification of its microstate is ac- above presented show that such identifica- tual information (Lyre 2002). tions would always involve very strong onto- logical compromises. Informational relations References seem to be very different from physical rela- ― BRILLOUIN, L. (1953). The negentropy principle tions, and very different too from qualitative, of information. Journal of Applied Physics, 24, 1152- experiential or fenomenological relations. 1163. ― LYRE, H. (2002). Informationstheorie. Eine philosophisch- naturwissenschftliche Einführung. Munich: W.Fink Ver- lag. glossariumBITri 173 NON-INFORMATIONAL ACCESS References ― CHURCHLAND, P. (1984). Matter and Conciousness. A Contemporary Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind. Cambridge: MIT Press. ― DRETSKE, F. (1980). Knowledge and the Flow of Infor- mation. Cambridge: MIT Press. ― DRETSKE, F. (1988). Explaining Behaviour. Reasons in a World of Causes. Cambridge: MIT Press. ― DRETSKE, F. (1997). Naturalizing the Mind. Cam- bridge: MIT Press. ― FLORIDI, L. (ed.) (2004). The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Computing and Information. London: Blackwell. ― KIM, J. (1996). Philosophy of Mind. Oxford: Westview Press. ― MCLAUGHLIN, B. (ed.) (1991). Dretske and his Crit- ics. Cambridge: Blackwell. ― SEARLE, J. (1983). Intentionality. An Essay in the Phi- losophy of Mind. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. ― SEARLE, J. (1992). The Rediscovery of Mind. Cam- bridge: The MIT Press. ― TYE, M. (1995). Ten Problems of Consciousness. A Rep- resentational Theory of the Phenomenal Mind. Cambridge: MIT Press. (ML) 174 GLOSSARIUM BITRI O ONTOLOGY (S. ontologia, F. onmtologie, G. ― Classes: It is a set of similar individuals. ontologie [Artificial Intelligence; Semantic Web] These sets represent the main concepts of resource, concept the domain. These concepts are often ar- ranged in a hierarchical way. Classes might Contents.— 1) Modelling techniques, 2) Ontology ele- ments, 3) Ontology principles, 4) Ontology types have attributes and functions and can be linked to another class by relations. According to Gomez-Perez (2004), Ontology ― Relations: Relationships to link classes and definition has evolved during the last twenty individuals years. In 1995, Guarino collects seven defini- tions about this concept to propose a new one. ― Attributes: properties or slots those classes This author defines ontology as “a set of logi- and its individuals can have. cal axioms designed to account for the in- ― Functions tended meaning of a vocabulary” (Guarino, ― Individuals: instances or objects of a class. 1998). To perform inference, the existence of asser- One of the reasons for the disagreement is the tions considered true is needed: these asser- broad definition that has been proposed to tions are used to express restrictions, rules and group all current ontologies. Wikipedia de- axioms. fines ontology as a “Formal representation of a set of concepts within a domain and the re- Finally, the Events are a way to represent how lationships between those concepts”. These the value of attributes and the relationships definitions might be right even for any other might change. Knowledge Organization Systems or termino- First order usually calls these elements: classes, logical resource. Wikipedia adds that ontolo- relations, attributes (slots), functions, in- gies are “used to reason about the properties stances, and axioms. of that domain, and may be used to define the domain”. Description Logic uses the following ele- ments: concepts (equivalent to classes); roles The best known definition was proposed by (equivalent to relations and properties of con- Gruber: “a formal, explicit specification of a cepts); and Individuals (equivalent to the in- shared ontology.” (1991). stances of concepts and their properties). 1. Modeling techniques. Two are the most 3. Ontologies principles. To be able to share commonly used techniques: knowledge, interoperability is required. Many ― First-order logic principles have been proposed (Gruber 1993): ― Description logic ― Clarity: objective definitions, formalized with axioms, and complete (necessary and 2. Ontology elements. Depending on the sufficient conditions). technique that has been used, the vocabulary to design some elements might be different. ― Minimal Encoding Bias ― Extendibility glossariumBITri 175 OPEN ACCESS ― Minimal ontological commitments ― GRUBER, T.R. (1993) "A translation approach to portable ontologies". Knowledge Acquisition, 5(2):199- Gomez-Perez (2004) adds to this list: 220, 1993 ― GRUBER, T.R. (1993) "Toward principles for the ― Representing disjoints and exhaustive knowledge design of ontologies used for knowledge sharing". ― Minimizing distance between siblings Int. Workshop on Formal Ontology in Conceptual Analysis. Padova 1993. ― Standardizing names in a clear form ― GOMEZ-PEREZ, A.; FERNANDEZ-LOPEZ, M.; CORCHO, O. (2004) Ontological engineering: with 4. Types of Ontologies. There are different examples from the areas of knowleddge management, e-com- types of ontologies: merce and the Semantic Web. London: Springer. Upper ~ (top ~ or foundational ~): describe (SSC –ed.-; JML) very general concepts that are common to all the ontologies. Other ontologies can be (S. acceso abierto, F. accès ou- aligned with these concepts by their root term. OPEN ACCESS vert, G. offener Zugang) [research] theory Examples are DOLCE, Proton, SUMO, and CYC Contents.— 1) The Budapest account, 2) The Bethesda account, 3) The Berlin account, 4) Other accounts. Task ~: describe the vocabulary related to some generic task or activity. There are three important definitions of Open Access, steemed from the declarations of Bu- Domain ~: concepts of a domain and their dapest, Bethesda and Berlin. The combination relationships. of these three accounts is regarded as the BBB Common ~(generic ontologies): common definition of open access. knowledge reusable in different domains. Ex- 1. The Budapest account. According to the amples are ontologies about time or space. Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI 2002): "by Knowledge Representation ~: primitives to 'open access' to this literature, we mean its free express knowledge in a formalized way. availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, Application ~: it is an ontology adapted to a print, search, or link to the full texts of these specific application. articles, scroll them for indexing, pass them as Regarding the reusabilitity and usability, more data to software, or use them for any other abstract ontologies are highly reusable lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or (Knowledge Representation Ontologies and technical barriers other than those inseparable Upper ontologies) but their usability is poor. from gaining access to the internet itself. The Application and Domain Ontologies have a only constraint on reproduction and distribu- low reusability but a high level of usability. tion, and the only role for copyright in this do- main, should be to give authors control over 5. Languages. Modeling choices are attached the integrity of their work and the right to be to different languages. As an example, one of properly acknowledged and cited". the languages related to first order logic is KIF; OWL is usually related to frame logic. 2. The Bethesda account. The Bethesda State- OWL is a language widely used to represent ment on Open Access Publishing (2003) adds that ontologies in the Web. OWL serialization is "An Open Access Publication is one that based on RDF/RDFS. meets the following two conditions: References (i) The author(s) and copyright holder(s) grant(s) to all users a free, irrevocable, world- ― GUARINO, N. (1998) "Formal Ontology in Infor- mation Systems". In: GUARINO N (ed). FOIS 98. wide, perpetual right of access to, and a license Trento: IOS Press. Pp. 3-15 to copy, use, distribute, transmit and display the work publicly and to make and distribute derivative works, in any digital medium for any 176 glossariumBITri OPEN ACCESS responsible purpose, subject to proper attrib- Kingdom’s largest non-governmental source ution of authorship, as well as the right to of funds for biomedical research) offers his make small numbers of printed copies for own point of view: "we want the digital ver- their personal use. sions of papers to be available to all in an un- restricted way and for them to be available for- (ii) A complete version of the work and all ever by putting it in an archive or institutional supplemental materials, including a copy of repository. Anyone who receives one of our the permission as stated above, in a suitable grants has to put the digital versions of their standard electronic format is deposited imme- published articles in PubMed Central (or in diately upon initial publication in at least one UK PubMed Central once it has been devel- online repository that is supported by an aca- oped) on the day of publication or no later demic institution, scholarly society, govern- than six months after publication" (Harris ment agency, or other well-established organ- 2006). ization that seeks to enable open access, unre- stricted distribution, interoperability, and Martin Richardson, managing director of Ox- long-term archiving. ford Journals, a division of Oxford University Press, states "our definition is freely-accessible 3. The Berlin account. Berlin Declaration on online at point of publication without any Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Hu- charges to readers. Open access for me is manities (2003) confirms the above and offers much wider than just readers not paying" the most theoretic perspective: "Our mission (Harris 2006). of disseminating knowledge is only half com- plete if the information is not made widely and Finally, Michael Mabe (who has been Elsevier's readily available to society. New possibilities director of academic relations for the past of knowledge dissemination not only through seven years, and has now become chief exec- the classical form but also and increasingly utive officer of the International Association through the open access paradigm via the In- of Science, Technical and Medical Publishers ternet have to be supported. We define open -STM) states that "giving a definition goes to access as a comprehensive source of human the heart of the problem with open access. In knowledge and cultural heritage that has been principle it is free availability to everybody on approved by the scientific community. In or- the world-wide web. However, many academ- der to realize the vision of a global and acces- ics think they are accessing open-access mate- sible representation of knowledge, the future rial or publishing in open-access journals. Web has to be sustainable, interactive, and They have not any barriers because their li- transparent. Content and software tools must brary has already paid for the subscription. In be openly accessible and compatible". the industry as a whole there has not been an appreciable increase in downloads for open- 4. Other accounts. Besides these most influ- access articles. This demonstrates that re- ential accounts, it is also worth mentioning the search papers are generally by academics for following ones: academics and they have access anyway" (Har- Steven Harnard, considered to be one of the ris 2006). founders of the Initiative, says "my definition is the same as that of the Budapest conven- References tion: «open access gives free online full-text ― Budapest Open Access Initiative (2002) [Online]. access to peer-reviewed literature». This defi- ― Declaración de Bethesda sobre Publicación de Acceso Abierto (2003). [Online] 178 glossariumBITri P PARADOX (S. paradoja, F. paradoxe, G. PRINCIPLES OF THE GTI (S. principios de Paradox, Paradoxon) [transdiciplinary, la teoría genral de la información, F. Principes de philosophy, logic] concept la Theórie Générale de l'Information, G. Grundsätze der Algemaine Theorie der Information) [General A paradox is a conflict between reasons: those Theory of Information] theory grounding it and those refuting it. The more solid the reasons in conflict, the greater the The methodological stratum of the →General philosophical interest of the paradox. In this Theory of Information (GTI) studies basic princi- general sense there are paradoxes of very dif- ples of information theory and information ferent genres: (a) paradoxes challenging the in- technology. telligibility of particularly basic notions, such as: infinite, time, space, identity, etc.; (b) para- Ontological Principle O1 doxes challenging the rationality of our action (The Locality Principle). It is necessary to sepa- or decision strategies: Newcomb's, Gaifman's rate information in general from information paradoxes, prisioner's dilemma, etc.; (c) para- (or a portion of information) for a system R. doxes challenging the rationality of our bodies In other words, empirically, it is possible to of belief: selfdeceiving paradoxes, Goodman's speak only about information (or a portion of , knower's paradoxes, etc.; among other many information) for a system. This principle sep- paradoxes, more or less important and more arates local and global approaches to infor- or less funny. mation definition, i.e., in what context infor- Logical paradoxes or antinomies are logically mation is defined. valid reasonings with non reasonable conclu- The Locality Principle explicates an important sions. Therefore we call antinomy any deduc- property of information, but says nothing tively valid reasoning driving to a contradic- what information is. The essence of infor- tion from rationally justified, highly acceptable mation is described by the second ontological or assertable premisses.ones… principle, which has several forms. References Ontological Principle O2 ― McGEE, V. (1993). Truth, Vagueness and Paradox. In- dianapolis: Hackett. (The General Transformation Principle). In abroad ― QUINE, W. (1976). The Ways of Paradox and other es- sense, information for a system R is a capacity says (rev. ed.). Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard Univer- to cause changes in the system R. sity Press. ― SALTO, F. (2005). "Verdad y recursividad", in J.M. Thus, we may understand information in a MÉNDEZ (ed.). Artículos de Segunda Mano. Sala- broad sense as a capacity (ability or potency) manca: Varona, pp.51-156. of things, both material and abstract, to (MV) change other things. Information exists in the form of portions of information. Information in a proper sense is defined of structural infological systems. In essence, any glossariumBITri 179 PARADOX subsystem of a system may be considered as Ontological Principle O3 its infological system. However, information (The Embodiment Principle). For any portion of in a strict sense acts on structural infological information I, there is always a carrier C of this systems where an infological system is struc- portion of information for a system R. tural if all its elements are structures. For ex- ample, systems of knowledge are structures. The substance C that is a carrier of the portion of information I is called the physical, or ma- Ontological Principle O2g terial, carrier ofI. (The Relativized Transformation Principle). Infor- Ontological Principle O4 mation for a system R relative to the infologi- cal system IF(R) is a capacity to cause changes (The Representability Principle). For any portion in the system IF(R). of information I, there is always a representa- tion Cof this portion of information for a sys- Elements from IF(R) are called infological el- tem R. ements. Ontological Principle O5 Ontological Principle O2a (The Interaction Principle). A transaction/transi- (The Special Transformation Principle). Infor- tion/transmission of information goes on mation in the strict sense or proper infor- only in some interaction of C with R. mation or, simply, information for a system R, is a capacity to change structural infological el- Ontological Principle O6 ements from an infological system IF(R) of (The Actuality Principle). A system R accepts a the system R. portion of information I only if the transac- An infological system IF(R) of the system R is tion/transition/transmission causes corre- called cognitive if IF(R) contains (stores) ele- sponding transformations in R. ments or constituents of cognition, such as Ontological Principle O7 knowledge, data, ideas, fantasies, abstractions, beliefs, etc. A cognitive infological system of a (The Multiplicity Principle). One and the same system R is denoted by CIF(R) and is related carrier C can contain different portions of in- to cognitive information. formation for one and the same system R. Ontological Principle O2c References (The Cognitive Transformation Principle).Cogni- ― BURGIN, M. (2010). Theory of Information: Fundamen- tive information for a system R, is a capacity tality, Diversity and Unification. Singapore: World Scien- tific Publishing. to cause changes in the cognitive infological system IFC(R) of the system R. (MB) 180 glossariumBITri R RECORD (S. registro, F. record, G. Rekord, two persons chatting verbally. This conversa- Register, Eintragung) [general, information tion is performed interchanging auditive rec- management] concept ords, perturbations in the state of the air in which both persons are immersed. When a Records emerge in communities made up by large number of records accumulate, they autonomous agents, with limited memory ca- need organization and classification to make pacities and in need of mutual coordination. sure they are useful. This requirement is the To overcome such limitations of their memo- basis of the Library and Information Systems ries and achieve effective coordination acts, sciences. such as contracts or agreements, agents need to set informations, definitions, ideas and Records are not the same as information. They meanings, in a way external to themselves and may represent it, but they are not information. to their memories. The same information may be represented with many different record types. If all rec- To achieve that, agents use records, physical ords representing a given information are de- systems whose state they may change. They stroyed, that information does not dissipate, it define a convention that establishes two rule only gets more difficult (or infeasible) to ac- types. The first rule type defines how to mod- cess it. ify a record's state starting from an infor- mation, a definition, an idea, etc., in order for A record may be false or true; exact or less ex- the record to represent it. The second rule act; precise or less precise; valid or not valid. type defines how to interpret the information, However, an information, taken as an abstract definition, idea, etc., that the author had the object, free of any representation form, is al- intention to record, from the state of that rec- ways true, exact, precise and valid. ord. References In human communities and given the fact that ― Buckland, M. (1994) "On the Nature of Records with very simple elements it is feasible to pro- Management Theory", American Archivist, vol 57, duce an overwhelming amount of states (for pp. 346-351. example, a sheet of paper with a pencil), con- ― Gejman, R. (2009). "An integrated framework for ventions must reduce the allowed states to a information, communication and knowledge defini- tions." tripleC - Cognition, Communication, Co-operation, very limited fraction of all feasible states. Gen- North America, 718 11 2009. erally, then, languages used are based on finite ― International Organization for Standardization, alphabets, words and grammars; and texts are (2001), Information and documentation -- Records written sequentially, and in parallel lines or management, ISO/TR 15489-1 and ISO/TR rows, either vertically or horizontally, from left 15489/TR-2, Geneva, Switzerland to right or in the opposite direction. (RG) Records may be stable and have a long dura- tion, as with books and CDs, or they may last only for short periods of time, as is the case of glossariumBITri 181 REFERENTIAL ABILITY REFERENTIAL ABILITY (S. capacidad ref- mination of reference. Truth value can be de- erencial, F. capacité référentielle, G. Referenzielle termined by the way things are. The world also Fähigkeit) [semantics, logic] concept can determine the references of our languages and thoughts. And references can determine Referential ability is the capability of referring. truth values. There is, however, a radical inde- We refer to something when we think or say termination of reference by truth values. Truth something about it. Hence, we can refer to values do not determine references. Moreo- both existing and non-existing things (for in- ver, truth values do not determine that we get stance, we can say many things about uni- to refer. All the truth contained in an ideal de- corns, and refer to them, even though they do scription of the world would be compatible not exist). In the same way, we can refer to with the non-existence of such a world. properties, relations, events, states of affairs, etc. References Is our referential ability something always me- ― CAMPBELL, J. (2002). Reference and Consciousness. diated by some sort of descriptions, senses, in- Oxford: Clarendon Press. ― DONNELLAN, K. (1966) “Reference and Definite tensions, connotations, etc.? Does it have Descriptions”, Philosophical Review, 77. sense to say that, at least in some cases, we get ― FREGE, G. (1892) “On Sense and Meaning”, in to refer to the world in a direct, non-mediated Gottlob Frege: Collected Papers on Mathematics, way? An affirmative answer to the first ques- Logic and Philosophy, Brian Mc Guiness et al. (eds.) tion gives place to the so called “descriptivist Oxford, Blackwell, 1984. ― FRENCH, P. et al. (eds.) (1979). Contemporary Per- theories of reference”. An affirmative answer spectives in Philosophy of Language. Minneapolis: to the second one gives place to “non-descrip- Univ. of Minnesota Press. tivist theories of reference”, also called “theo- ― EVANS, G. (1982). The Varieties of Reference, Ox- ries of direct reference”. Frege is the paradig- ford: Clarendon Press. ― KRIPLE, S. (1972). Naming and Necessity. Oxford: matic example of descriptivism. Russell and Blackwell. Kripke are paradigmatic examples of non-de- ― LEPORE, E. & B. Smith (2006). The Oxford scriptivism. Stuart Mill also defended a non- Handbook of Philosophy of Language. Oxford: descriptivis position. For that reason, being Clarendon Press. ― RECANATI, F. (1993). Direct Reference. Oxford: non-descriptivist is “to maintain a Millean the- Blackwell. ory of reference”. ― RUSSELL, B. (1905). “On Denoting”. Mind, 14. Orthogonal to the mentioned tension between ― STRAWSON, P. (1950). “On Referring”. Mind, 59. descriptivist and non-descriptivist theories of (ML) reference, there are two main ways of explain- ing our referential ability. We can try to explain REGULARITY (S. regularidad, F. régularité, G. it as derived from some intentions or we can Regelmäßigkeit) [transdisciplinaryy, statistics, try to explain it as derived from some objec- epistemology] concept tive facts (for instance, causal facts, informa- tional facts, etc.). The problem is that even if ~ Strict: there is a strict regularity (Hume’s we were in the ideal situation of knowing all constant conjunction) when each fact of a cer- the possible truths about us ourselves and tain type A is accompanied by a fact of a cer- about the world, the references of the terms of tain type B. These types are determined by the our languages, and the references of our own universals instantiated in the facts. thought, would remain indetermined. Refer- ~ Statistical: →correlation. ences could change without any change in the truth values of the sentences. References The situation we have just described would be ― MILLIKAN, Ruth (2004). Varieties of Meaning: The a version of Quine’s thesis about the indeter- Jean-Nicod lectures 2002. Cambridge: MIT Press. (MC) 182 glossariumBITri REPOSITORY REPOSITORY (S. repositorio, F. dépôt, référen- institution and its community members. It is tiel, G. Aufbewahrungsort) [ scientific research, most essentially an organizational commit- information society] concept ment to the stewardship of these digital mate- rials, including long-term preservation where There is a wide variety of definitions of repos- appropriate, as well as organization and access itory, but according to Melero (2005, p. 260), or distribution." repositories can just be conceived as archives where people can store digital materials (text, López Medina (2003) ascribes the following images, sound). They emerge from the -so functions to institutional repositories: named- e-print community worried about the im- ― They are a shared tool for managing digital pact and dissemination of scholarly communi- content in universities and other research cation. institutions. Repositories are digital archives containing ― A road to Open Access. scholarly information, generated from univer- ― A space for storage and preservation. sities and other research institutions, that is open and accessible through the Internet. Re- Melero (2005), in turn, ascribes them the fol- positories provide benefits to the scientific lowing functions: world and they are supported by a large num- ― They serve as a quality guarantee for the in- ber of institutions of many countries. They re- stitution. trieve, reuse and preserve research outputs and promote disseminations and visibility of ― They contribute to the dissemination, visi- scholarly information, guaranteeing the ad- bility, impact and preservation of the schol- vancement of Science. arly information. López Medina (2007, p. 3) defines digital re- Interoperability is another technical charac- pository as a networking system constituted by teristics of institutional repositories. "The hardware, software, data and processes with Open Archives Initiative (OAI) develops and the following features: promotes interoperability standards that aim to facilitate the efficient dissemination of con- ― It contains digital objects and metadata. tent. OAI has its roots in the open access and ― It guarantees the persistent identification of institutional repository movements. Contin- the object. ued support of this work remains a corner- ― It offers some roles of management, ar- stone of the Open Archives program. Over chive and preservation. time, however, the work of OAI has expanded to promote broad access to digital resources ― It provides easy and standardized access to for eScholarship, eLearning, and eScience”. the digital objects. ― It offers safe system of objects and As Melero (2005, p. 261) states, the OAI pro- metadata. motes the building of open and distributed re- positories containing, at least, descriptive ― It is sustainable over time. metadata of their digital objects. It aims at cre- Most authors agree that there are two kinds of ating and furthering interoperability standards, digital repositories: discipline or subject based re- which contribute to an effective dissemination positories, and institutional repositories. The of the contents of the archives. The OAI- first type include contents depending on the PMH (Open Archives Initiative-Protocol for subjects or knowledge areas. Lynch (2003) de- Metadata Harvesting) "is a low-barrier mecha- fines institutional repository as "a set of ser- nism for repository interoperability. Data Pro- vices that a university offers to the members viders are repositories offering structured of its community for the management and dis- metadata via OAI-PMH; whereas Service Pro- semination of digital materials created by the glossariumBITri 183 REPRESENTATION viders make OAI-PMH service requests to har- successful, to express a content or proposi- vest such metadata. OAI-PMH is a set of six tion. We may call them propositional repre- verbs or services that are invoked within sentations. HTTP". A second (see correlation) and more frequent The history of this protocol is described by use of the term “information” concerns the Barrueco and Subirats (2003). The version 1.0 contents expressed by declarative tokens of was published in 2001, and version 2.0 came languages or codes. We may call these tokens out one year later. Its architecture is formed by propositional representations. The content of service providers based on metadata harvested by a propositional representation −i.e., the prop- means of the OAI metadata harvesting proto- osition expressed by it, or what it says to com- col (OAI-PMH) and data providers which are petent users of the language− is frequently re- the specific repositories. All this information ferred to as the information carried by the rep- can be codified in Simple Dublin Core resentation. In contrast with what happens Metadata. with the former notion of information, the content carried by a propositional representa- References tion doesn’t depend on the existence of any ― BARRUECO CRUZ, J. M.; SUBIRATS COLL, I. correlation, but on the design history of the (2003). Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Meta- corresponding language or code. In this view, data Harvesting (OAI-PMH): descripción, funciones y aplicaciones de un protocolo [Online]. El profesional also, contents can be false, and a propositional de la Información, 2003, vol. 12, n. 2, p. 99-106. [on- representation may thus carry false infor- line] 184 glossariumBITri ROBOETHICS as we know from thermodynamics-because rise to countless utopian and dystopian stories, any change which is accompanied by a differ- songs, movies, and video games. ence cannot be performed without a loss of Human-robot interaction raises serious ethical energy, and, in general, with an increase of en- questions right now that are theoretically less tropy (although according to Ilya Prigogine a ambitious but practically more important than decrease of entropy = an increase of order the possibility of the creation of moral ma- could be possible locally). As far as we know chines that would be more than machines with today, irreversibility is a general property of all an ethical code. But, even when the process of processes in evolution: on the cosmic, geolog- invention and development of robotic tech- ical, phylo-genetic, onto-genetic, social or eco- nologies take place in a global level, in which nomic levels. Reversibility can only happen if diverse cultures, therefore also diverse systems we abstract from energy/entropy changes. of values, beliefs and expectations are in- For practical purposes it is important to know volved, intercultural roboethics is still in its in- if qualitative or quantitative changes can be fancy, no less than intercultural robotics (→In- compensated or not. (e.g. pathological tercultural Information Ethics). changes in tissue or organs, chemical reac- Rougly speaking, the following ethical theories tions). Jacob Segal (1958) gives the following and moral values as well as principles are pre- degrees of reversibility: dominant in Western and Eastern traditions 1) spontaneous and directly revertible pro- rising different questions with regard to hu- cesses (with losses in time and energy) man-robot interaction such as: 2) spontaneous and indirectly revertible pro- ― Europe: Deontology (Autonomy, Human cesses (on different pathways than under 1.) Dignity, Privacy, Anthropocentrism): Scep- 3) non-spontaneous, but directly revertible ticism with regard to robots processes (additional energy necessary) ― USA (and anglo-saxon tradition): Utilitarian 4) non-spontaneous, but indirectly revertible Ethics: will robots make “us” more happy? processes (new side-conditions needed) ― Eastern Tradition (Buddhism): Robots as 5) absolutely irreversibility one more partner in the global interaction of things References ― SEGAL, Jacob (1958). Die dialektische Methode in der The difference morality and ethics should be Biologie. Berlin: Dietz Verlag. understood as follows: (PF) ― Ethics as critical reflection (or problemati- zation) of morality ROBOETHICS (S. roboética, F. roboéthique, G. ― Ethics is the science of morals as robotics is the science of robots Roboethik) [Information ethics] theory As Capurro and Nagenborg (2009) state, eth- Different ontic or concrete historical moral ics and robotics are two academic disciplines, traditions are for instance one dealing with the moral norms and values ― in Japan: Seken (trad. Japanese morality), underlying implicitly or explicitly human be- Shakai (imported Western morality) and haviour and the other aiming at the produc- Ikai (old animistic tradition) tion of artificial agents, mostly as physical de- ― In the „Far West“: Ethics of the Good vices, with some degree of autonomy based on (Plato, Aristotle), Christian Ethics, Utilitar- rules and programmes set up by their creators. ian Ethics, Deontological Ethics (Kant) Since the first robots arrived on the stage in the play by Karel Čapek (1921) visions of a The ontological dimension, Being or (Bud- world inhabited by humans and robots gave dhist) Nothingness, can be conceived as the glossariumBITri 185 ROBOETHICS space of open possibilities that allow us to crit- found in the mentioned book, edited by icize concrete or ‘ontic’ moralities. The human Capurro and Nagenborg. relation to such ontological dimension is al- References ways based on basic moods (like sadness, hap- piness, astonishment etc.) through which the ― ČAPEK, Karel (1920). R.U.R. (Rossumovi univerzální uniqueness of the world and human existence roboti) [English translation: R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), New York: Pocket Books, 1970. is experienced differently in different cultures. ― CAPURRO, Rafael and NAGENBORG, Michael A future intercultural roboethics should re- (Eds.) (2009). Introduction. In: Ethics and Robotics. flect on the ontic as well as on the ontological Berlin: Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft. dimensions for creating and using robots in (RC) different cultural contexts and with regard to different goals. Trends, contributions and bib- liography focused in this crossroad can be 186 glossariumBITri S SELF-RE-CREATION (S. auto-re-creación, F. evaluation of the interpretations that cause an- auto-ré-création, G. Selbst-Re-Kreation) [UTI] concept other sign to emerge, by means of which the system -as subject- completes its meaning, Used in the →Unified Theory of Information considering the object as an initial state to (UTI) as one of the three basic processes of reach the end and affects the behaviour of the information systems –the most advanced one. system so that it can be modified. Self-recreation is a more elaborated type of The sign, in each of these three levels, is called →self-reproducing processes and refers to the ca- (in UTI) →data, →knowledge and wisdom (or pacity of self-organizing systems to create the practical wisdom), respectively, each one cor- necessary conditions, not only for their repro- responding to the field of the perceptive, cog- duction, but also to create themselves accord- nitive and evaluative capacities, which to- ing to the objectives that they have established gether make up the characteristics of con- themselves. In their capacity to change the en- science, which appears in systems. In each vironment for their own settlement, they show stage, a break in the self-organisation occurs, an even bigger capacity to adapt than the sys- which is a starting point for another one to oc- tems that are merely biotic (→self-reproducing) cur (or not occur) afterwards. of which they are part. Thus they involve the most advanced evolutionary stage (or stage of Self-organising systems on the human, social, cultural evolution). cultural level are capable of constructing themselves anew, inventing themselves, creat- They can be classified as self-determining insofar ing themselves again and again. Erich Jantsch as their self-organising capacities offer, under called this capability "re-creative". Thus "re- certain circumstances, a set of possibilities, creative systems" are a branch of autopoietic which can be chosen by themselves. Given the systems that leads to a new level: (Self-)Re-cre- fact that such a choice takes the form of a de- ation is a refinement of, and further develop- cision adopted under the condition of an irre- ment in, autopoietic self-organisation (self-re- ducible freedom of choice, the pragmatic and producing). semantic levels are separated. Consequently, in the stage of social, self-recreating and self- References determining systems, the semiotic relationship ― FENZL, N., HOFKIRCHNER, W. (1997). "Infor- spreads in its three levels of sign production, mation Processing in Evolutionary Systems. An which can be described in terms of the crea- Outline Conceptual Framework for a Unified Infor- tion of ideas. Such creation happens in three mation Theory". Schweitzer, F. (ed.), Self-Organization stages: 1st) the perception of signals from out- of Complex Structures: From Individual to Collective Dy- namics, Foreword by Hermann Haken. London: Gordon side the system causes the appearance of a and Breach, pp. 59-70. sign, which is a modification of the system’s ― FLEISSNER, P., HOFKIRCHNER, W. (1996). structure; 2nd) the interpretation of the percep- "Emergent Information. Towards a unified infor- tions by which the system’s state is modified mation theory". BioSystems, 2-3 (38), pp. 243-248. ― HOFKIRCHNER, W. (1998). "Information und and another sign emerges, meaning something Selbstorganisation – Zwei Seiten einer Medaille". that is given to the system as its object; 3rd) the glossariumBITri 187 SELF-REGULATION VS AUTOMATIC REGULATION Fenzl, N., Hofkirchner, W., Stockinger, G. (eds.): well-known for their smart mechanical crea- Information und Selbstorganisation. Annäherungen tures. an eine vereinheitlichte Theorie der Information. Innsbruck: Studienverlag, pp. 69-99. Some of the first automata utilized feedback ― JANTSCH, E. (1987). "Erkenntnistheoretische mechanisms to reduce errors, mechanisms Aspekte der Selbstorganisation natürlicher Systeme". Schmidt, S. J. (ed.): Der Diskurs des Radikalen that are still used nowadays. Among the first Konstruktivismus. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, pp. 159-191. devices of automatic control registered in the literature, we found in Heron's Pneumatica (WH –ed.-; JMD, WH) (c.150 b.C.) a control for the liquid level in a tank which is similar to what is currently used SELF-REGULATION VS AUTOMATIC in toilette's tanks. The Greek-Byzantine tradi- REGULATION (S. auto-regulación vs. regulación tion -symbolised by Hero and the School of automática, F. Autorégulation vs. régulation Alexandria- was developed in the Islamic automatic, G. Selbstregelung vs. automatische world, going significantly beyond (Rashed & Regelung) [System Theory, Cybernetics, Morelon 1996). Some relevant automatic reg- Control Theory] concept ulated systems can be found in the literature, for instance, from the inventor and scientist Contents.— 1) The semantic field of self-regulation, 2) Brief history of automatic regulation, 3) Industrial automa- Al-Jazari (c.1206), whose water clocks repre- tion, 4) Social regulation of automation. sent a distinguished evolution of Hero's level control, or the Andalusian engineer Ibn Kha- 1. The semantic field of self-regulation. laf al-Muradi, who invented segmental and ep- Self-regulation (or automatic regulation) is used icyclic gears employed in clocks. These devel- in systems theory and cybernetics in the sense opments influenced in Christian Middle Ages, of homeostasis (→feedback), namely the ca- where some relevant inventors, who some- pacity of a system to maintain itself in a bal- times had to hide their artefacts, might be con- anced situation. sidered as predecessors of automation, as Al- In this sense the term is very commonly used bertus Magnus, Pierre de Maricourt or Roger in psychology, though not in the meaning of Bacon (Bacon 1859). "automatic regulation", but as "regulation of the However, there was a lack of theoretical and self", also named self-control (i.e. the ability to mathematical development behind all these in- control one´s emotions, desires or actions by ventions. The first work of what can be called one's own will). Since automatic is used in a a classical control theory is to be found in a signif- sense of acting without volition or conscious icant work concerning the centrifugal gober- control, there is a certain semantic opposition nor of Boulton and Watt designed in 1788 between the psychological meaning of "self- (Rumford 1798). This device consisted of two regulation" or "self-control", on one hand, metal balls attached to the drive shaft of a and "automatic regulation" or "automatic con- steam engine and connected to a valve regu- trol", on the other hand. lating the flow of steam. As the speed of the Automatic regulation, also used in the sense of an steam engine is increased, the balls are moving autonomous maintenance of a balanced situa- out of the shaft because of centrifugal force, tion, is mainly found in the field of electronic thereby closing the valve. This caused a de- systems and control engineering (control theory). cline in the flow of steam to the engine and therefore the speed will be reduced. 2. Brief history of automatic regulation. The concept of automated machines goes 3. Industrial Automation. The feedback back to ancient times, related to myths of liv- control, the development of specialized tools ing mechanical beings. Automata, or machines and distribution of work into smaller tasks that like people, appeared in clocks of medieval workers or machines might handle, were es- churches, being 18th century watchmakers 188 glossariumBITri SELF-REGULATION VS AUTOMATIC REGULATION sential ingredients in the automation of indus- social problems arisen from this perspective try in the eighteenth century. As technology should also be tackled in a wide critical assess- improved, specialized machines were devel- ment, reflection and decision-making on auto- oped for tasks such as putting caps on bottles mation of any kind (Chollet and Rivière 2010). or pour liquid into molds for rubber tires. Both ethics and critical theory has been posed However, none of these machines have the as stages for these social endeavours (→Critical versatility and efficiency of the human arm theory of information, →information ethics, →ro- and could not reach distant objects and place boethics). them in the required position. References An automated manufacturing system is designed to ― AL-JAZARÍ (c. 1206), trans. (1973), The Book of use the capacity of machines to perform cer- Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices: Kitáb fí ma'rifat al-hiyal al-handasiyya. Berlin: Springer. tain tasks previously tackled by humans, and ― BACON, Rogerio (1859). "Epistula de secretis to control the sequence of operations without operibus artis naturae". in Opera quaedam hactenus human intervention. The term automation has inedita. London: Brewer. also been used to describe non-manufacturing ― CHOLLET, M. and P. RIVIÈRE (coor.) (2010). systems in which programmed or automated Internet: révolution culturelle. Manier de voir, 109.- OGATA, K. (1998). Ingeniería de control Moderna, Mé- devices can operate independently or semi-in- xico D.F.: Prentice-Hall Hispanoamericana. dependently of human control. In communi- ― DIANI, M. (1996). Individualisation at work: office cations, aviation and astronautics, devices automation and occupational identity. in S. Lash, B. such as automatic telephone switching equip- Szerszynski and B. Wynne (editors) (1996). Risk, En- vironment and Modernity: Towards a New Ecology. Lon- ment, autopilots, and automated systems guid- don: Sage Publications, 154-168. ance and control are used to perform different ― HABERMAS, Jürgen (1970). "Technology and Sci- tasks faster or better than human beings. ence as Ideology". in Toward a Rational Society. J. Shapiro (trans.). Boston: Beacon Press. 4. Social regulation of automation. Follow- ― HERO of Alexandria (c.150 b.C.); Bennet Wood- ing an uncritical dominant concept of social croft (trans.) (1851). Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria. progress, automation is considered as one of London: Taylor Walton and Maberly. [online] Roch- their pillars, increasing productivity and reduc- ester, NY: University of Rochester SELF-REPRODUCTION (S. autoreproduc- ronmental conditions (whereas in the self-re- ción, F. autoreproduction, G. Selbstreproduktion) structuring systems one talks about reflection, [UTI] concept one could talk here about representation). Used in the →Unified Theory of Information (UTI) Self-organising systems on the biotic level are ca- as an intermediate process -in evolutionary pable of reproducing themselves. Notice that sense- of information systems "reproduction" in that context is not the same as to what biologists are used to referring. The Self-reproduction is a more elaborated type of notion here includes the narrow biological self-restructuring processes and refers to the meaning of reproduction but goes beyond capacity of self-organising systems, which do that. It refers to the capability of the system to not only change their structure into another maintain itself – a meaning that usually comes one more or less chosen by themselves, but with the notion in sociological context only. they also insert these modified structures into This kind of reproduction can be called after a wider context: that of helping them to keep Maturana and Varela "→autopoiesis". There- their own existence. Here, a functional struc- fore living systems can be called "autopoeitic ture is not a simple pattern any more, but a systems". Autopoiesis is a refinement of, and ‘thing’ that has meaning, and this ‘thing’ will further development in, dissipative self-organ- be called here a symbol, so that the production isation (self-restructuring). of signs in this evolutionary stage of living sys- tems changes from creating patterns to creat- References ing symbols. ― FENZL, N., HOFKIRCHNER, W. (1997). "Infor- The self-reproducing systems are considered mation Processing in Evolutionary Systems. An Outline Conceptual Framework for a Unified Infor- an evolutionary stage (called biotic or living) mation Theory". Schweitzer, F. (ed.), Self-Organization among the →self-restructuring and the →self-rec- of Complex Structures: From Individual to Collective Dy- reating ones, so that they involve a special case namics, Foreword by Hermann Haken. London: Gordon of self-restructuring systems, as well as a more and Breach, pp. 59-70. ― FLEISSNER, P., HOFKIRCHNER, W. (1996). general case than the self-recreating ones. "Emergent Information. Towards a unified infor- As far as the evolution of the semiotic relation mation theory".BioSystems, 2-3 (38), pp. 243-248. ― HOFKIRCHNER, W. (1998). "Information und is concerned, one can observe here a ramifica- Selbstorganisation – Zwei Seiten einer Medaille". tion in which the syntactic level is separated Fenzl, N., Hofkirchner, W., Stockinger, G. (eds.): from the semantic-pragmatic one, regarding Information und Selbstorganisation. Annäherungen the former just to the sensations of the living an eine vereinheitlichte Theorie der Information. systems. These sensations -on the syntactic Innsbruck: Studienverlag, pp. 69-99. level- consist of self-organised restructurings (WH –ed.-; JMD, WH) evoked by the environmental disruptions and limited by the “offer of sensitive mechanisms” (S. auto-restruc- in a recursive process of symbolic production. SELF-RESTRUCTURING turación, F. autorestructuration, G. Selbst-re- However, on the semantic-pragmatic level, ac- strukturierung) [UTI] concept tions are developed according to sensations. Since living systems act according to what Used in the →Unified Theory of Information as such sensations mean in terms of relevance for the lowest capacity of information systems. survival, we could talk about both meaning Self-restructuring is the most primitive type of and action, although in an indissoluble man- self-organising processes, in which the most primi- ner. The syntactic difference means -in prac- tive manifestation of signs also occurs. This tice- a difference with regard to the objective type of systems is also called dissipative, be- of the survival, so that the signs now represent cause, in thermodynamic terms, they dissipate the aptitude of the system towards the envi- 190 glossariumBITri SEMANTIC CONTENT the entropy as a sub-product of the work car- of Complex Structures: From Individual to Collective Dy- ried out during the restructuration, in which, namics, Foreword by Hermann Haken. London: Gordon and Breach, pp. 59-70. at the same time that the energy degrades, the ― FLEISSNER, P., HOFKIRCHNER, W. (1996). system manages to get rid of it. This is neces- "Emergent Information. Towards a unified infor- sary for the new structure to be considered a mation theory".BioSystems, 2-3 (38), pp. 243-248. creation of a superior order, instead of a deg- ― HOFKIRCHNER, W. (1998). "Information und Selbstorganisation – Zwei Seiten einer Medaille". radation of the system. The structuring pro- FENZL, N., HOFKIRCHNER, W., cess leads to a special and/or temporal pat- STOCKINGER, G. (eds.): Information und tern. Selbstorganisation. Annäherungen an eine vereinheitlichte Theorie der Information. Innsbruck: Studienverlag, pp. Understood as information processing, the 69-99. creation of patterns is the rudimentary way of producing signals, being the pattern the dis- (WH –ed.-; JMD, WH) tinction carried out by the system in which the three semiotic relations can be found (→sign): SEMANTIC CONTENT (S. contenido 1st) a syntactic relation can be observed, inso- semántico, F. contenú sémantique, G. semantischer In- far as the creation of the pattern is a type of halt) [semantics] concept recursive process which builds on the previ- ous pattern and chooses one amongst various Semantic content, conceptual content, propo- possible patterns; 2nd) as far as the incoming sitional content and cognitive content are syn- energy allows the system to change its pattern, onymous in many contexts. It is a kind of con- the input becomes a signal that makes the new tent directly valuable in semantic terms (as pattern arise, although it does not establish it having a reference, a sense, some truth values, completely. The state adopted by the system etc.). It is a content made of concepts. More- when creating a new pattern can be inter- over, it is a content identifiable with a certain preted as a representation of the input, thus it proposition. In addition, it is a kind of content can be said it is a semantic relationship. 3rd) As able of having cognitive relevance. It makes a long as the new pattern corresponds to the ob- difference in the premises, or consequences, servable behaviour in which the system ex- of our theoretical or practical reasoning. presses its activity, the pragmatic relation re- The three kinds of entities able of having se- mains also thematised here. mantic content are linguistic items, actions However, the three semiotic relationships co- and psychological entities. Sentences and cer- incide with the pattern and, therefore, they are tain parts of sentences of natural languages not differentiated yet. It can be said that the may bear semantic content. Actions, in partic- pattern reflects the conditions of its environ- ular speech acts, also would have semantic ment, as the pattern depends on it. Such re- content. Finally, the mental states that are usu- flection of the environment constitutes a pre- ally called “propositional attitudes” (beliefs, condition for the appearance of a sphere of in- desires, memories, etc.) also would have se- fluence in which the behaviour of the system mantic content. launches that of the adjacent ones, so that the It is very difficult to determine whether the se- appropriate conditions can emerge for the mantic content in each one of those three maintenance and improvement of the system, cases can be independent of the semantic con- which will be possible in →self-reproducing sys- tent of the other ones. Both the so called Gri- tems. cean program and informational accounts of semantic content make any semantic content References dependent on the semantic content that we ― FENZL, N., HOFKIRCHNER, W. (1997). "Infor- can find in some mental states, and the seman- mation Processing in Evolutionary Systems. An Outline Conceptual Framework for a Unified Infor- tic content of mental states dependent on ob- mation Theory". Schweitzer, F. (ed.), Self-Organization jective informational relations. glossariumBITri 191 SEMANTIC WEB References because this forward-looking approach impli- ― DRETSKE, F. (1980) Knowledge and the Flow of Infor- cates a “technical construct of protocols, pro- mation, Cambridge, MIT Press. cess, languages, and tools. ― FODOR, J. (1987) Psychosemantics, The Problem of Meaning in the Philosophy of Mind, Cambridge, However, three factors present Semantic Web MIT Press. as an attractive solution; these are the interop- ― FODOR, J. (1990) A Theory of Content and Other Es- erability and the creation of semantic re- says, Cambridge, MIT Press. sources with the common domain knowledge: ― DRETSKE, F. (1988) Explaining Behaviour. Rea- sons in a World of Causes, Cambridge, MIT Press. i) Interoperability: some authors consider the Se- ― DRETSKE, F. (1997) Naturalizing the Mind, Cam- mantic Web as a project for creating a univer- bridge, MIT Press. ― GRICE, H. (1957) “Meaning”, Philosophical Review, sal mediator for information interchange (Kal- 68. foglou, 2007). This would be possible through ― GRICE, H. (1969) “Utterer’s Meaning and Inten- the creation of interoperable documents se- tions”, Philosophical Review, 78. mantically well defined for the computer ap- ― LEPORE, E. & B. Smith (2006) The Oxford Hand- plications of the World Wide Web. In other book of Philosophy of Language, Oxford, Clarendon Press. words, it is about converting the Web, and its ― MILLIKAN, R. (1984) Language, Thought and distributed databases, into a great database. In- Other Biological Cathegories, Cambridge, MIT teroperability between the documents is sus- Press. tained through the use of a common language ― SEARLE, J. (1969) Speech Acts. An Essay in the Philos- ophy of Language, Cambridge, Cambridge Univ. Press. based on RDF (Resource Description Frame- ― SEARLE, J. (1979) Expression and Meaning, Cam- work) (W3C, 2005), a language which is based bridge, Cambridge Univ. Press. on XML (Extensible Markup Language) (W3C, 2006). The advantages of obtaining this (ML) interoperability are obvious for knowledge re- use (Russ, Jones and Fineman, 2006), concep- SEMANTIC WEB (S. web semantica, F. web sé- tual navigation, and the fusion of Knowledge mantique, G. semantisches Web) [Web] concept Organization Systems (KOS) through multi- Contenidos.— 1) Evolución, limitaciones y virtu- ple domains (W3C, 2006; Zeng, 2004). des de la propuesta, 2) Capas de la Web Semántica, ii) Semantic Resources: Semantic Web requires 3) El Estándar Topic Map y la Web Se-mántica. that the semantic knowledge should be ex- 1. Evolution, limitations and advantages of pressed in documents written in a Web lan- the proposal. Tim Berners-Lee created this guage oriented to knowledge modeling, like concept by proposing a network in which in- RDF. These documents model KOS and its formation and services are semantically de- instances. KOS have an important role in the fined so that requests of people and machines Semantic Web because they support the se- could be understood and satisfied. Computers mantic knowledge management. This is neces- would be able to analyze all Web data: content, sary to perform indexing and retrieval tasks, links, transactions between persons and com- giving as a result more relevant and noiseless puters. A Semantic Web that could be able to information for the user. KOS define the con- do this is emerging, and this way, when this is cepts utilized for describing and representing possible there will be a qualitative leap in the an area of knowledge (Daconta, Smith and interconnection between multiple reposito- Obrst, 2003; Gruber, 2005). These resources ries, electronic commerce, semantic queries are used by persons, databases, and applica- and automatic question-answer systems. tions that need to share information on a spe- cific domain, considering for every domain the Semantic Web has already been with us for a specification of a knowledge area, such as decade and a great effort has been invested for medicine, real estate, commercial manage- its development by private and academic enti- ment, etc. ties, but regretfully results are currently scarce, 192 glossariumBITri SHANNON, CLAUDE ELWOOD 2. Semantic Web Layers. Semantic Web ― BERNERS-LEE, T., HENDLER, J., LASSILA, O. proposal suggests a seven layer “cake” for its (2001), "The Semantic Web," Scientific American. [Online] 194 glossariumBITri SHANNON, CLAUDE ELWOOD He stated that “Practically all systems of com- flew twice as high and twice as fast as those of munication may be thrown into the following World War I, the fire control parameters had form: f1(t) → T → F(t) → R → f2(t); f1(t) is to be automatically determined by means of a general function of time (arbitrary except for radar data. Shannon was hired by Warren certain frequency limitations) representing the Weaver, at the time also head of the Natural intelligence to be transmitted. It represents for Sciences Division of the Rockefeller Founda- example, the pressure-time function in radio tion. He worked with Richard B. Blackman and telephony, or the voltage-time curve out- and Hendrik Bode, also from Bell Labs. Their put of an iconoscope in television.” report, “Data Smoothing and Prediction in Fire-Control Systems,” pointed in the direc- Shannon was awarded the Alfred Noble Prize tion of generality in signal processing. Fire of the American Society of Civil Engineers for control was seen as “a special case of the trans- his master’s thesis in 1940. He continued to mission, manipulation, and utilization of intel- work on the use of algebra to deepen analogies ligence.” They stated that there was “an obvi- and began his doctoral studies in mathematics, ous analogy between the problem of smooth- with the same supervisor, the algebraist Frank ing the data to eliminate or reduce the effect L. Hitchcock. The topic, however, stemmed of tracking errors and the problem of separat- from Bush, who suggested that Shannon apply ing a signal from interfering noise in commu- Boolean algebra to genetics, as he had to cir- nications systems” (Mindell, Gerovitch, and cuits. The result of his research was submitted Segal,2003, p. 73). in the spring of 1940 in his thesis “An Algebra for Theoretical Genetics.” Meanwhile, Shan- The second project was in the field of cryptog- non had also published his “Mathematical raphy. At the outbreak of the war, communi- Theory of the Differential Analyzer” (1941) cations could be easily intercepted. The main and during the summer of 1940 had started transatlantic communication means for confi- working at the Bell Laboratories, where he ap- dential messages was the A3 telephone system plied the ideas contained in his master’s thesis. developed at Bell Labs, which simply inverted He also spent a few months at the Institute for parts of the bandwidth and was easily deci- Advanced Study in Princeton working under phered by the Germans.Shannon worked on Hermann Weyl thanks to a National Research the X-System, which solved this problem, and Fellowship, and he then returned to the Bell met British mathematician Alan Turing during Labs, where he worked from 1941 to 1956. this time. Turing had come to Bell Labs to co- ordinate British and American research on 2. The Impact of World War II. Any scien- jamming, but the “need-to-know” rule that tist who worked in public institutions, private prevailed prevented them from engaging in a companies, or universities at this time became real exchange on these issues. The quintes- increasingly engaged in the war effort. From sence of Shannon’s contribution to war cryp- 1940 onward, interdisciplinary organizations tography can be found in a 1945 report (de- were founded: first the National Defense Re- classified in 1957) titled “A Mathematical The- search Committee (NDRC, June 1940), under ory of Cryptography,” which outlined the first the supervision of Vannevar Bush, and later theory, relying on both algebraic and probabil- the Office of Scientific Research and Devel- istic theories. Shannon explained that he was opment (May 1941), which included the interested in discrete information consisting NDRC and medical research. Shannon soon of sequences of discrete symbols chosen from became involved in this war-related research, a finite set. He gave definitions of redundancy mainly with two projects. The first project fo- and equivocation, and also of “information.” cused on anti-aircraft guns, which were so im- Trying to quantify the uncertainty related to portant in defending Great Britain under the the realization of an event chosen among n V1 bombs and V2 rockets and more generally events for which a probability pi is known, he for air defense. Because World War II planes glossariumBITri 195 SHANNON, CLAUDE ELWOOD proposed the formula H=Σi(i=1..n){pi log pi} study “the savings due to statistical structure where H was at first merely a measure of un- of the original message” (1948, p. 379), and for certainty. He then showed that this formula that purpose, he had to neglect the semantic verified eleven properties such as additivity aspects of information, as Hartley did for “in- (information brought by two selections of an telligence” twenty years before (Hartley, 1928, outcome equals the sum of the information p. 1). For Shannon, the communication pro- brought by each event) or the fact that H was cess was stochastic in nature, and the great im- maximum when all the events had the same pact of his work, which accounts for the ap- probability (which corresponds to the worst plications in other fields, was due to the sche- case for deciphering). For the choice of the matic diagram of a general communication letter H, obviously referring to Boltzmann’s system that he proposed. An information H-Theorem, he explained that “most of the source” outputs a “message,” which is en- entropy formulas contain terms of this type” coded by a “transmitter” into the transmitted (Sloane and Wyner, 1993, pp. 84–142). Ac- “signal.” The received signal is the sum of the cording to some authors, it might have been transmitted signal and unavoidable “noise.” It John von Neumann who gave Shannon the is recovered as a decoded message, which is following hint: delivered to the “destination.” The received signal, which is the sum between the signal "You should call it entropy, for two reasons. In the and the “noise,” is decoded in the “receiver” first place your uncertainty function has been used that gives the message to destination. His the- in statistical mechanics under that name, so it al- ory showed that choosing a good combination ready has a name. In the second place, and more of transmitter and receiver makes it possible important, no one really knows what entropy really to send the message with arbitrarily high accu- is, so in a debate you will always have the ad- racy and reliability, provided the information vantage." (Tribus, 1971, p. 179) rate does not exceed a fundamental limit, 3. From Cryptography to Communication named the “channel capacity.” The proof of Theory. In his 1945 memorandum, Shannon this result was, however, nonconstructive, also developed a general schema for a secured leaving open the problem of designing codes communication. The key source was repre- and decoding means that were able to ap- sented as a disturbing element conceptualize proach this limit (→Shannon's fundamental theo- as a “noise,” similar to the message, but apart rems). from that, the schema was similar to the one The paper was presented as an ensemble of he described in 1939 in his letter to Bush. twentythree theorems that were mostly rigor- Shannon always kept this goal in mind, even ously proven (but not always, hence the work when he worked in cryptology. In 1985, Shan- of A. I. Khinchin and later A. N. Kolmogorov, non declared to Price “My first getting at that who based a new probability theory on the in- was information theory, and I used cryptog- formation concept). Shannon’s paper was di- raphy as a way of legitimizing the work. … For vided into four parts, differentiating between cryptography you could write up anything in discrete or continuous sources of information any shape, which I did” (Price, 1985, p. 169) and the presence or absence of noise. In the Relying on his experience in Bell Laboratories, simplest case (discrete source without noise), where he had become acquainted with the Shannon presented the H formula he had al- work of other telecommunication engineers ready defined in his mathematical theory of such as Harry Nyquist and Ralph Hartley, cryptography,which in fact can be reduced to Shannon published in two issues of the Bell a logarithmic mean. He defined the bit, the System Technical Journal his paper “A Math- contraction of “binary digit” (as suggested by ematical Theory of Communication.” The John W. Tukey, his colleague at Bell Labs) as general approach was pragmatic; he wanted to the unit for information. Concepts such as 196 glossariumBITri SHANNON, CLAUDE ELWOOD “redundancy,” “equivocation,” or channel results hat appeared during the war effort, “capacity,” which existed as common notions, namely the idea of a general theory for “Con- were defined as scientific concepts. Shannon trol and Communication in the Animal and stated a fundamental source-coding theorem, the Machine,” which is the subtitle of Cyber- showing that the mean length of a message has netics, a book Norbert Wiener published in a lower limit proportional to the entropy of 1948. Shannon, von Neumann, Wiener, and the source. When noise is introduced, the others were later called “cyberneticians” dur- channel-coding theorem stated that when the ing the ten meetings sponsored by the Macy entropy of the source is less than the capacity Foundation, which took place between 1946 of the channel, a code exists that allows one to and 1953. Shannon and Weaver’s 1949 book, transmit a message “so that the output of the along with the work by Wiener, brought forth source can be transmitted over the channel a so-called “information theory.” with an arbitrarily small frequency of errors.” Rapidly, connections were made between in- This programmatic part of Shannon’s work formation theory and various fields, for in- explains the success and impact it had in tele- stance in linguistics, where influences went in communications engineering. The turbo both directions. In order to be able to consider codes (error correction codes) achieved a low “natural written languages such as English, error probability at information rates close to German, Chinese” as stochastic processes de- the channel capacity, with reasonable com- fined by a set of selection probabilities, Shan- plexity of implementation, thus providing for non relied on the work of linguists, who, in the first time experimental evidence of the turn, were vitally interested in the calculus of channel capacity theorem (Berrou and the entropy of a language to gain a better un- Glavieux, 1996). derstanding of concepts like that of redun- Another important result of the mathematical dancy (Shannon, 1951). Roman Jakobson was theory of communication was, in the case of a among the most enthusiastic linguists; he had continuous source, the definition of the capac- participated in one of the Macy meetings in ity of a channel of band W perturbed by white March 1948. At the very beginning of the thermal noise power N when the average 1950s, in most disciplines, new works were transmitter power is limited to P, given by presented as “applications” of information theory, even if sometimes the application only C=W log{(P+N)/N} consisted of the use of logarithmic mean. Try- which is the formula reproduced on Shan- ing to understand the connections between non’s gravestone. The 1948 paper rapidly be- molecular structure and genetic infor- came very famous; it was published one year mation—a couple of months before the dis- later as a book, with a postscript by Warren covery of the double helix for the structure of Weaver regarding the semantic aspects of in- DNA—Herman Branson calculated, in a sym- formation. posium entitled “The Use of Information Theory in Biology,” the information quantity 4. Entropy and Information. There were ( ) contained in a human. He gave the expres- two different readings of this book. Some en- H sion “ (food and environment) = (biolog- gineers became interested in the program- H H ical function) + H (maintenance and repair) + matic value of Shannon’s writings, mostly to H (growth, differentiation, memory)” develop new coding techniques, whereas (Quastler, 1953, p. 39). Henry Quastler came other scientists used the mathematical theory to the conclusion, as did Sidney Dancoff, that of communication for two reasons: on one “ (man)” was about 2 x 10 28 bits (p. 167). hand, a general model of communication; and H on the other, the mathematical definition of Taking issue with these different kinds of ap- information, called “entropy” by Shannon. plications, Shannon in 1956 wrote a famous Those ideas coalesced with other theoretical editorial, published in the Transactions of the glossariumBITri 197 SHANNON, CLAUDE ELWOOD Institute of Radio Engineers, with the title problem to which John von Neumann de- “The Bandwagon.” As he stated, referring to voted considerable attention. Starting from his 1948 paper, “Starting as a technical tool for this parallel, notions such as redundancy and the communication engineer, it has received channel capacity were to be used to improve an extraordinary amount of publicity in the the architecture of computing machines. popular as well as the scientific press. In part, The second topic dealt with the way in which this has been due to connections with such a “brain model” can adapt to its environment. fashionable fields as computing machines, cy- This had no direct link with information the- bernetics, and automation; and in part, to the ory but was more related to the work Shannon novelty of its subject matter. As a conse- had presented during the eighth Macy meet- quence, it has perhaps been ballooned to an ing, in March 1951, where he gathered with importance beyond its actual accomplish- other cyberneticians. Shannon demonstrated ments.” At this time, some applications of in- an electromechanical mouse he called The- formation theory already reflected a mood, es- seus, which would be “taught” to find its way sentially based on a loose, rather than a scien- in a labyrinth. In his Dartmouth proposal, tific definition of information. Forty years Shannon put the emphasis on “clarifying the later, the project of “information highways,” environmental model, and representing it as a presented to promote the Internet, partly re- mathematical structure.” He had already no- lied on the same idea. ticed that “in discussing mechanized intelli- 5. Shannon as a Pioneer in Artificial Intel- gence, we think of machines performing the ligence. At the time Shannon published his most advanced human thought activities— relatively pessimistic editorial, he was already proving theorems, writing music, or playing engaged in other research, typically related to chess.” He posited a bottom-up approach in his ability to combine mathematical theories, the “direction of these advanced activities,” electrical engineering, and “tinkering,” starting with simpler models, as he had done namely, artificial intelligence. Shannon coau- in his 1950 paper entitled “Programming a thored the 1955 “Proposal for the Dartmouth Computer for Playing Chess.” In this first Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelli- published article on computer chess, Shannon gence,” which marked the debut of the term offered the key elements for writing a “pro- “artificial intelligence.” Together with Na- gram,” such as an “evaluation function” or a thaniel Rochester, John McCarthy, and “minimax procedure.” Marvin L. Minsky, he obtained support from the Rockefeller Foundation to “proceed on the basis of the conjecture that every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it.” In ex- plaining his own goal, Shannon named two topics. The first topic, presented as an “application of information theory,” was based on an analogy: in the same way that information theory was concerned with the reliable transmission of in- formation over a noisy channel, he wanted to tackle the structure of computing machines in Claude Shannon with an electronic mouse which has a “super” which reliable computing is supposed to be memory and can learn its way round a maze without a mistake achieved using some unreliable elements, a after only one “training” run. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images). 198 glossariumBITri SHANNON, CLAUDE ELWOOD 6. A Complex Legacy. Shannon’s contribu- many of which he kept at his home: among tions to artificial intelligence have often been others, a tiny stage on which three clowns neglected because of the enormous aura. He is could juggle with eleven rings, seven balls, and so well known for his work on information five clubs, all driven by an invisible mecha- theory that his credit for AI is often ignored. nism of clockwork and rods. Juggling was one Most history of AI does not even mention his of his passions, which also included playing presence at the Dartmouth meeting of infor- chess, riding a unicycle, and playing to clarinet. mation theory. None of the works he wrote In the early 1980s Shannon began writing an after the 1950s received such recognition. He article for Scientific American called scientific left Bell Labs for the Massachusetts Institute Aspects of Juggling,” which he never finished of Technology (MIT) in 1956, first as a visiting (Sloane and Wyner, 1993, pp. 850–864). professor; he was a permanent member of the At the dawn of the twenty-first century, Shan- Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT non’s contributions are manifold. Whereas for twenty years, starting in 1958, after he had there are still applications that only consist of spent a year as a fellow at the Center for Ad- using the logarithmic mean or the schematic vanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in diagram of a general communication system Palo Alto. (applications he condemned in his 1956 edito- Most of his scientific work was devoted to the rial, “The Bandwagon”), there are also numer- promotion and deepening of information the- ous new fields that could not be defined with- ory. Shannon was invited to many countries, out referring to his work. In the field of tech- including the Soviet Union in 1965. While nology, coding theories that are applied to there, giving a lecture at an engineering con- compact discs or deep-space communication ference, he had an opportunity to play a chess are merely developments of information the- match against Mikhail Botvinik. He tackled ory. In mathematics, entire parts of algorith- the case of transmission with a memoryless mic complexity theory (→Algorithmic Infor- channel (a noisy channel where the noise acts mation Theory) can be seen as resulting from the independently on each symbol transmitted development of Shannon’s theory. In biology, through the channel). It is on this topic that he the protean use made of the expression “ge- published his last paper related to information netic information” explains the development theory, as early as 1967, with Robert G. Gal- of molecular biology (Fox Keller, Kay and lager and Elwyn R. Berlekamp. Yockey). From the 1990s onward, in physics, In the late 1960s and 1970s, Shannon became the domain of “quantum information” took interested in portfolio management and, more off around the definition of qubits, which ex- generally, investment theory. One of his col- tended the bit initially used by Shannon to leagues at Bell Labs, John L. Kelly, had shown measure information. Shannon unfortunately in 1956 how information theory could be ap- could not take part in these developments nor plied to gambling. Together with Ed Thorp, take them into account; from the mid-1990s Shannon went to Las Vegas to test their ideas. he struggled with Alzheimer’s disease, to In 1966 they also invented the first wearable which he succumbed in February 2001. computer at MIT that was able to predict rou- References lette wheels. A comprehensive bibliography appears in: Shannon never gave up constructing eccentric ― NEIL J. A. SLOANE and AAARON D. WYNER, machines, like the THROBAC (THrifty RO- eds., Claude Elwood Shannon: Collected Papers, Pisca- man-numeral BAckward-looking Computer) taway, NJ: IEEE Press, 1993. he built in the 1950s, the rocket-powered Fris- These collected papers include the 1937 master’s thesis bee, or a device that could solve the Rubik’s (http://libraries.mit.edu/) ; the “Letter to Vannevar Cube puzzle. He developed many automata, Bush, Feb. 16, 1939”; and the 1940 PhD dissertation (http://libraries.mit.edu/). glossariumBITri 199 SHANNON´S FUNDAMENTAL THEOREMS The master’s and PhD essays are also available at the ― KELLY, John L. (1956). “A New Interpretation of MIT’s online institutional repository: the Information Rate.” Bell System Technical Journal 35: 917–925. ― 200 glossariumBITri SHANNON´S FUNDAMENTAL THEOREMS Shannon probes here the existence of a limit with an arbitrarily small frequency of errors (or to the efficiency of what has been called source an arbitrary small equivocation). If H>C it is coding (→encoder). If the entropy of a source – possible to encode the source so that the characterised by the emission of a finite set of equivocation is less than H–C+ε where ε is ar- symbols– can be determined, then we know H bitrarily small. There is no method of encod- (in bit/symbol) would correspond to the min- ing which gives an equivocation less than H– imum binary digits to be used for its coding. C. (Shannon 1948: 22) Any move to this limit translates into a grow- Since here the source is characterised by its in- ing complexity (in operational and/or circuital formation transmission rate (according to costs). As in other fundamental results of the Shannon’s definition of entropy), this theorem MTC, it deals with a non constructive conclu- warns us that the transmission of this infor- sion “leaving open the problem of designing mation flow requires at least a channel of ca- codes” (→Shannon, C.E.). pacity bigger than H. We might vainly try to In technical practice, source coding is not only transmit it through a channel of lesser capac- attained to the statistical level addressed by ity, any excess of source entropy with respect Shannon. The most sophisticated techniques to channel capacity will imply a corresponding of source coding are actually a combination of: increase in the rate of error reception. On the other hand, approaching to the threshold 1) predictive coding, in which the sender only (C≈H) leads to an increase in (operational/cir- conveys what cannot be predicted from previ- cuital) complexity. ous sendings, achieving optimal results if source peculiarities and pragmatic context are How can the distance between source entropy analysed in depth (e.g. for the reproduction of H and channel capacity C be employed? Re- a piano playing, keyboard touching is just reg- dundancy might be employed in order to facil- istered). itate recipients identification and correction of transmission errors. This kind of coding in 2) Transformational coding (especially applicable named channel coding (→encoder). There are for signals addressed to sensory organs), in several techniques to add redundancy, which which a linear transformation is applied to sig- can be classified in block codes and convolutional nals to be conveyed (reversible) enabling to codes. In the former, consecutive data blocks distinguish ranges of different sensibility. This are used to determine the added redundancy; makes possible to leave out data being imper- in the convolutional ones, state machines are ceptible or under certain quality thresholds used, which output depends on the coder state (operation entailing an irreversible loss of data and entry data. Error correction looks in the –not necessarily information, as it is com- former for the most similar valid block, in the monly said, if this data is not able in the least later for the most similar sequence of valid to ‘inform’ recipients). In that coding, effi- code. ciency is achieved through an analysis in depth of the sensory perception. 3. Complementarity of both theorems. Thus, there is a certain practical complemen- 3) Statistical coding, in the sense pointed out by tarity between these two theorems: the former the MTC where source emissions are regarded indicates how far we can compress the code as ergodic and stationary processes. for conveying source messages (maximally re- 2. Fundamental theorem for a discrete moving redundancy); the second shows us the channel with noise. Let a discrete channel redundancy the system could use in order to have the capacity C and a discrete source the facilitate error correction. entropy per second H. If H≤C there exist a At a glance, source coding tries to equate bi- coding system such that the output of the nary digits to bits, maximizing entropy and source can be transmitted over the channel glossariumBITri 201 SIGN eliminating whatever is non entropic and use- Peirce designates as sign “an object which less for decoding purposes, whereas channel stands for another to some mind”. He distin- coding adds non entropic digits that can be guishes three points of view: 1) as being signs recognized by recipients to eliminate transmis- in themselves (dealt with in grammar); 2) as sion errors. being related with an object (dealt with in logics); 3) as being related to subjects or “in- References terpretants” (dealt with in pure rhetoric). He ― SHANNON, C. E. (1948). “A Mathematical Theory also distinguishes, depending on the relation of Communication”. The Bell System Technical Journal, with three types of signs: iconic (which are sig- Vol. 27, pp. 379–423, 623–656, July, October. ― SHANNON, C. y WEAVER, W. (1949). The mathe- nificant even if the object does not exist); in- matical theory of communication. Urbana: The University dexes (which loss their constituting character if of Illinois Press. its object is suppressed, but not if the inter- ― SKLAR, Bernard (2001). Digital Communications. Fun- preter is missing); and symbols (which loss their damentals and Applications. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. constituting character if its interpreter is miss- (JMD) ing). Structuralism develops an even more elaborated classification, in which these three types pointed out by Peirce reappear, based on SIGN (S. signo, F. signe, G. Zeichen) [transdisci- the established relationship between signifi- plinary, semiotics, communication theory] con- cant and signified (arbitrary, metaphoric, met- cept onymic, etc.). The use frequently given in antiquity to the Morris –following Pierce- states that the sign word sign, σημεῖον, corresponds to a signal, usu- is what supports a triadic relation: with other ally verbal, through which something is repre- signs, with designated objects and with the sented. However, it was also used in a number subjects using the sign. , and of more technical meanings -sometimes con- Syntactics semiotics are concerned with the study of each fronted-, such as in the realist and nominalism pragmatics of these relations respectively, whereas positions. In modernity, especially among ra- semiot- or semiology deal with the general study of cionalists, a sign tends to refer to ideas. How- ics the sign. ever, in Empiricism, the word sign gains a sig- nificant relevancy, distinguishing its suggestive Husserl makes a fundamental distinction be- dimension –already pointed out in antiquity tween sign and signification, according to and medieval nominalism-. In current times, which, even though every sign is a sign of the most influential trends are perhaps the something, not all signs have signification, i.e., ones started by Saussure, Peirce and Husserl, be- it does not necessarily comprise a sense being ing the first two more influential in linguistics, expressed by it. Sometimes, we cannot even semiotics and anthropology, whereas Hus- say that a sign designates that of which it is serl’s influence was driven by phenomenology called a sign. For Husserl, signs can be indica- and →hermeneutics into a wide spectrum of so- tive (limited to indicate, but not to signify) and cial sciences. significative (or expressions pointing to a signi- fication, which is one of the elements of the For Saussure, the sign (seen from a linguistic intentional act, usually wider than effectua- point of view) is a non-separable double-faced tions or fulfillments, and only matching up “psychic entity”: the acoustic image (named such act if a complete adequacy is given be- signifier –“significant”) and the concept (signi- tween signification and what is signified, the fied –“signifié”), where its bonding link is arbi- intentional object). With this characterization, trary. Structuralism extended Saussure’s con- cept of sign to non verbal phenomena. a stance is taken up rejecting both the signic arbitrariness of nominalism and the expressive naturalness of realism, clarifying the “ambigu- ous significative situation”. 202 glossariumBITri SITUATIONAL LOGIC References objects are in relation or they are not. The last ― ECO, U. (1973). "Social Life as Sign System”. In D. element (1 or 0) is called “polarity” and is the Robey (ed.). Structuralism, an Introduction. Oxford: Ox- one that shows the veracity if polarity is 1, or ford University Press. falseness if polarity is 0, of the relation R. ― FERRATER MORA, J. (1994). "Signo" y "Sím- bolo", in Diccionario de filosofía. Barcelona: Ariel. In terms of the Situation Theory, infons are ― LEACH, E. (1976). Culture and Communication: semantic objects within the mathematical the- The Logic by Which Symbols are Connected. Cam- ory. They are not phrases in some language bridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ― MORRIS, C.W. (1938). Foundations of the theory of that require an interpretation. Infons are the signs. Chicago, Ill: The University of Chicago Press. minimum units of the information. ― PEIRCE, Charles S. (1873). On the Nature of Signs. MS 214 (Robin 381): Writings 3, 66-68. [Online] Ar- Infons can be referred to more than a relation isbe: The Peirce Gateway [Online] by means of operations of conjunction and Constraints are abstract bonds between types where R denotes a relation among n appropri- of situations. They can be of diverse types: ate objects to describe it and denotes if these natural laws, linguistic, empirical conventions, glossariumBITri 203 SOCIAL WEB relations logics, rules, or of any other type. Its such as Flick or YouTube demonstrate the paper in the chain of the information is well great acceptance and vitality of this platform. gathered in Israel and Perry (1990) by the The approach is based on the involvement word “meaning”. and collaboration of users for the manage- ment of resources, using friendly and well de- The constraint between two types T and T' in- signed user interfaces. The architecture of dicates that an element of type t, will carry in- these applications permits to users to describe formation of an element of the type t' within resources with tags. In contrast to Semantic the terms determined by the situation that in- Web, this approach lacks a central authority to cludes them. organize and standardize the way that the Web In order to be able to construct the meaning, is managed, and hinders progress towards gen- the agent must be able to settle down con- eral acceptance by other software developers. straints between each one of the identified sit- Dale uations type, in the context of the situation. 1. History of the term Web 2.0. Dougherty from O’Reilly Media was the per- The representation of Infon gathering the son that invented the term Web 2.0 at a con- constraint between two situations type s and s' ference with Craig Cline from MediaLive. is the following one: During the speech on the evolution of the In- ternet they realized the numerous collabora- tive services that had emerged, as well as the References will of the users to share resources. The term ― DEVLIN, Keith (1991). Logic and Information. Cam- was affirmed in the 2004 Web 2.0 Conference; bridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. within one year the term Web 2.0 already had ― BARWISE, J. and PERRY, J. (1983). Situations and 10 millions references in Google, even though Attitudes; Cambridge, Ma.: MIT Press. ― ISRAEL, D. y PERRY, J. (1990). What is infor- its significance remained vague. In contrast mation? In Philip Hanson (Ed.). Information, Language with the Semantic Web, its appearance was and Cognition. Vancouver: University of British Co- not in response to a planned and coordinated lumbia Press, pp. 1-19 effort, neither the assumption on behalf of the (CA) experts that the Web was evolving autono- mously, was suggesting such a proposal. SOCIAL WEB (S. Web social, F. Web Social, G. 2. Semantic Web and Social Web. Web 2.0 Soziales Netzwerk) [Web, Information Society, and Semantic Web (SW) are technologies with ICT] concept, resource a great potential for the network and ulti- mately, for the final user. Both aim to improv- Contents.— 1) History of the term, 2) Semantic Web ing the mechanisms for sharing information and Social Web, 3) Social Web and Semantic Web Com- parison, 4) Conversion of folksonomies into more complex and resources. Frequently, Web 2.0 is pre- KOS. sented as an intermediate stage to future Web 3.0 (called Semantic Web). Web 2.0 is oriented Social Web is a set of resources and practices to persons, while the Semantic Web is ori- that enable the users to socialize with each ented to applications; this stems from the fact other. In the literature, Web 2.0 is usually em- that the first employs a free language and the ployed as a synonym. latter a controlled language. Web 2.0 attempts Also Web 2.0 is used to refer to the set of tech- to give the users a legible and usable semantic, nologies focused on social interaction. Most while the Semantic Web projects the correct of these tools are free. interpretation of the semantic for computer applications. Web 2.0 is a platform, where users are the principal centre of attention; the user decides 3. Social Web and Semantic Web compar- what to use and how to use it. Applications ison. To explain why the Social Web is more 204 glossariumBITri SUPER-RECURSIVE KOLMOGOROV COMPLEXITY popular than the Semantic Web, at the mo- (JML) ment, we analyze and compare some charac- teristics between both webs according to dif- SUPER-RECURSIVE KOLMOGOROV ferent criteria. Some of them demonstrate that COMPLEXITY (S. complejidad de Kolmogorov they treat the two concepts with different ap- super-recursiva; F. Complexité de Kolmogorov super- proaches. récursif; G. Superrekursive Kolmogorow-Komplexität) At first glance, it could be assumed that both [AIT, computer science, complexity theory, the Social Web and the Semantic Web could coding theory]concept be in conflict. At the same time, though, they Contents.— 1) Absolute and relative super-recursive could be viewed as two complementary as- complexity; 2) Inductive Kolmogorov complexity pects of the Web which, by operating syner- gistically, could increase the potential of both. 1. Absolute and relative super-recursive complexity. Super-recursive Kolmogorov Therefore, after questioning the reason for complexity is an algorithmic measure or meas- their mutual existence and why the Social Web ure of algorithmic information. It is defined has had such success compared with the Se- for constructive objects, such as words in mantic Web, it becomes evident that they treat some alphabet. If x is a word and K is a class two independent necessities as being equally of super-recursive algorithms, then, as in the indispensable. case of recursive algorithms, we have two 4. Conversion of folksonomies into more types of super-recursive Kolmogorov com- complex KOS. Some Web resources are un- plexity. der analysis for their evolution to KOS com- The Kolmogorov complexity CB(x) of an ob- plexes, e.g. the folkontologies, which study ject (word) x with respect to an algo- evolution mechanisms starting from a folk- rithm B from K is defined as sonomy. CB(x) = min {l(p); B(p) = x} References in the case when there is a word p such ― O'REALLY, T. (2005). “What Is Web 2.0. Design that B(p) = x; Patterns and Business Models for the Next Genera- otherwise CB(x) is not defined. tion of Software” Thus, the super-recursive Kolmogorov com- the size of the shortest program (in number of plexity KC(x) of a word x is taken to be equal symbols) for a universal inductive Turing ma- to: chine U that with y as its input, computes the string x and terminates. the size of the shortest program (in number of symbols) for a universal in K algorithm The inductive relative Kolmogorov complex- U that without additional data, computes ity IC(x | y) allows one to find the algorithmic the string x and terminates. quantity IC(y ; x) of inductive information y x, i.e., information This measure is called absolute super-recur- in a word about a word that can be extracted by inductive algorithms. sive Kolmogorov complexity because super- Namely, we have recursive Kolmogorov complexity has also a relative form KC(x | y). IC(y ; x) = C(x) - C(x | y) There are many different classes of super-re- The inductive Kolmogorov complexity of cursive algorithms: limiting recursive func- an object (word) x with respect to an induc- tions and limiting partial recursive func- tive Turing machine T is defined as tions introduced by Gold, trial and error pred- ICT(x) = min { l(p); T(p) = x} icates introduced by Hilary Putnam, inductive in the case when there is a word p such Turing machines of different orders and limit that T(p) = x; Turing machines of different orders intro- otherwise ICT(x) is not defined. duced by Burgin, trial-and-error machines in- troduced by Hintikka and Mutanen, general Burgin (1990; 1995) proved that there is an in- Turing machines introduced by Schmidhuber, variant inductive Kolmogorov complex- etc. Each of these classes defines its own su- ity IC(x). Namely, there is an inductive Turing per-recursive Kolmogorov complexity. machine U such that for any inductive Turing machine T, there is a constant cT such that for In- 2. Inductive Kolmogorov Complexity. all words x, we have ductive Turing machines form the class of su- per-recursive algorithms closest to the con- ICU(x) ≤ ICT(x) + cT ventional classes of algorithms, such as the class of all Turing machines. As a result, the The machine U is a universal inductive Turing closest to the conventional (recursive) Kolmo- machine. This makes the concept of inductive gorov complexity C(x) is inductive Kolmogo- Kolmogorov complexity invariant up to an rov complexity IC(x). If x is a word, then the additive constant. original Kolmogorov complexity IC(x) of a It is proved (Burgin, 2005) that inductive Kol- word x is taken to be equal to mogorov complexity for a word x is usually the size of the shortest program (in number much less than recursive (conventional) Kol- of symbols) for a universal inductive Turing mogorov complexity for the same word. It machine of the first order U that without means that to build a constructive object, e.g., additional data, computes the string x. a word, it is necessary to have much less in- ductive algorithmic information than recur- This measure is called absolute inductive sive algorithmic information. Kolmogorov complexity because inductive Kolmogorov complexity has also a relative At the same time, many properties of induc- tive Kolmogorov complexity are similar to the form IC(x | y). Namely, the relative induc- properties of the conventional Kolmogorov tive Kolmogorov complexity IC(x | y) of the word x relative to the word y is taken to be complexity For instance, when the length of a equal to: word tends to infinity, its inductive Kolmogo- rov complexity also tends to infinity. 206 glossariumBITri SYSTEM THEORY References complexity of the systems, about the relation- ships between systems and their models, etc. ― BURGIN, M. (1982). Generalized Kolmogorov complexity and duality in theory of computations. The concept of system goes usually associated Soviet Math. Dokl., Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 19–23 with the concepts of model and simulation. A ― BURGIN, M. (1990). Generalized Kolmogorov meaning of the term model is that of a simu- Complexity and other Dual Complexity Measures. Cybernetics, No. 4, pp. 21–29 lated system. There are different systems mod- elling techniques (for example, System Dy- ― BURGIN, M. (1995). Algorithmic Approach in the Dynamic Theory of Information. Notices of the namics). Russian Academy of Sciences, V. 342, No. 1, pp. 7-10 References ― BURGIN, M. (2005). Super-recursive algorithms, Mono- graphs in computer science, Heidelberg: Springer. ― ARACIL, J. (1986). Máquinas, sistemas y modelos. Un ensayo sobre sistémica. Madrid: Editorial Tecnos. (MB) ― BERTALANFFY, L. (1967). General System Theory. New York: George Braziller. ― BUNGE, M. (1979). Treatise on Basic Philosophy. Vol. SYSTEM (S. sistema; F. système; G. System) 4, Ontology II: A World of Systems. Dordrecht & Bos- [transdiciplinary, system theory] concept ton: Reidel Publishing Company. ― HALL, N. (1999). How To Set A Surprise Exam. The idea of viewing reality as a whole, or as a Mind, 108, 647-703. series of interconnected structures or systems, is perhaps as old as mankind. And it appears (MV) to be deeply rooted in our ordinary knowledge. SYSTEM THEORY (S. teoría de sistema; F. Théorie des Systêmes; G. Systemstheorie) The history of ideas has left us an amount of [transdiciplinary] theory problems closely related to the notion of sys- tem (for example, the relationship between the Systems theory (ST) is a specific way of how whole and its parts, or the relationship be- to reflect the totality of material or mental ob- tween the causes and the goals). Nowadays, jects, their structures, their quantitative and Bertalanffy, Wiener, Thom, Prigogine, Man- qualitative change and their relations to their delbrot… have highlighted the need for a sys- environment. It represents the structured por- tems approach in science. Bertalanffy is well traying, designing, reifying and interpreting of known as the creator of the Theory of Sys- this totality. By portraying ST picks up certain tems. A system is defined as a complex object essential aspects of perceived reality; by de- of interacting elements. Given some condi- signing ST (re)constructs this totality in a cer- tions, an element will behave in a certain way. tain way; by reifying it transforms the mental When these conditions change, the behaviour image into scientific language and/or into will also change. Bertalanffy thinks the main mathematical expressions; by interpreting ST characteristic of a system is that the whole links the totality to the philosophical, political contributes more tan the separate parts, taken or scientific context. in isolation, due to interactions among them. ST deals with the relations between structure, The meaning of the term “system” is not un- function and dynamics of a system, with the ambiguous, but each author seems to give a relations between its elements or parts and the different meaning. That is why different for- total system, with the relations between the malizations have been proposed (Klir, Bunge, system and its environment, and with the Zeigler…). These formalizations help to clar- identification and classification of systems. ify many of the intuitive notions about the re- The vibrant development of the productive lationships between systems and their envi- forces in the last century based on scientific ronment, about the distinction between natu- revolutions provides the basis for a deepened ral and artificial systems, about the structural understanding of totalities. At the same time, glossariumBITri 207 SYSTEM THEORY extreme specialization of science and research generates a growing need for ST to handle complex practical problems of contemporary life. Although systems thinking can be traced back to ancient Egypt, ST as an area of study was developed by the works of Ludwig von Ber- talanffy, William Ross Ashby, Gregory Bateson, Kenneth E. Boulding, C. West Churchman, Heinz von Förster, Paul Lazars- feld, Kurt Lewin, Warren McCulloch, John von Neumann, Margaret Mead, Anatol Rapoport, Norbert Wiener and others in the 1950s. Between 1946 and 1953 ST was specif- ically catalyzed by the Society for General Sys- tems Research and the Macy Conferences (or- ganized in the US by the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation). Specific versions of Systems Theories exist in cybernetics and in the theory of adaptive sys- tems. Applications can be found in mathemat- ics and computing (control theory), system dy- namics (Jay Forrester), agent based modeling, systems engineering, biochemistry, theories of living systems, anthropology, sociology and social cybernetics, economics, ecology, politi- cal sciences, history, archeology, systems psy- chology, group dynamics and theories of or- ganization etc. References ― BERTALANFFY, L. von (1950). "An Outline for General Systems Theory". British Journal for the Philos- ophy of Science, Vol 1, No. 2, pp. 134-165. ― FLOOD, R.L.; CARSON, E.R. (1993). Dealing with Complexity. An Introduction to the Theory and Application of Systems Science. New York: Springer. ― WIKIPEDIA (2009). Systems Theory. [Online] 208 glossariumBITri T TAXONOMY (S. taxonomía, F. Taxinomie, G. 5) Navigation through the hierarchical struc- Taxonomie) [Knowledge Management, ture. Knowledge organization, semiotics] concept 6) Specification of the query, thus narrowing Taxonomy is a classification or categorization the used terms. of a set of objects in a hierarchical way. A ge- 7) Organisation on internal business needs. neric-specific relationship is established be- Users arrange terms in a meaningful way. tween pairs of terms. This hierarchical ar- 8) Development and updating of the struc- rangement is present in every Knowledge Or- ture, according to changing business re- ganization System (SKOS): thesaurus, concept quirements. model, or ontology. Taxonomy organizes not only the vocabulary The main components of taxonomies are: of an organization, but also its output and re- ― Hierarchical structure (specific context) with sources, including its know-how. Taxonomies different levels of specificity. inherit the hierarchical classification from SKOS and the descriptors from the thesaurus. ― Labels (names that label each concept). They are used to organize large amounts of They are the elements in the structure, data, with the help of a controlled vocabulary. grouped in thematic sets. ― Faceted. Every concept might belong to a In short, taxonomy arranges its hierarchical different facet. These facets enable han- structure in accordance with a context and a dling sets of terms grouped by attributes. group of users. This resource merges an in- This approach facilitates indexing and re- dexing language with a specific vocabulary, re- trieval tasks. flecting in its structure both the domain and information needs of an organization. Taxonomies are used in companies and organ- izations to manage and organize their infor- References mation resources. This facilitates searching, ― DACONTA, M.; OBRST, L; & SMITH, K. (2003). browsing and navigation in the hierarchy. The Semantic Web. A guide to the future of XML, Some applications allow: Web services, and Knowledge management. Indian- apolis: Wiley Publishing 1) Arrangement of the company vocabulary in ― CONWAY, S. & SLIGAR C. (2002). Building taxon- domains that are not important enough to omies, en su Unlocking knowledge assets. Redmont: Mi- crosoft Press, pp. 105-124. have their own public controlled vocabu- ― GILCHRIST, A. (2003). "Thesauri, taxonomies and lary. ontologies: an etymological note", en Journal of Docu- 2) Representation of the terms that the organ- mentation, Vol. 59, n 1, pp. 7-18. ― MOREIRO GONZALEZ, J. A.; MORATO, J.; ization employs every day. SANCHEZ-CUADRADO, S.; RODRIGUEZ 3) Completion of terms with definitions about BARQUIN, B.A. (2006) "Categorización de los con- their specific use. ceptos en el análisis de contenid2o: su señalamiento desde la Retórica clásica hasta los Topic Maps", Revista 4) User orientation. glossariumBITri 209 TEMPORAL LOGIC Investigación Bibliotecológica: archivonomía, bibliotecología e Presently, hybrid temporal logic systems are información , Vol. 20, n. 40, pp. 13-31. being developed. These systems increase the ― WZHONGONG, W., CHAUDRY, A. S., & KHOO, C. (2006). "Potential and prospects of tax- expressive power of temporal logic, because onomies for content organization", Knowledge Organi- they allow making reference in the syntax to zation, Vol. 33, n. 3, pp. 160-169. the moments. (JAM) References ― PRIOR, A. (1967). Past, Present and Future. Oxford: TEMPORAL LOGIC (S. lógica temporal, F. ta- Oxford University Press. ― BLACKBURN, P. (1994) "Tense, Temporal Refer- xonomie, G. taxonomie) [logic] concepto ence and Tense Logic". Journal of Semantics, 11, pp. Ever since Aristotle (and even before him, see 83-101. ― GABBAY, D., HODKINSON, I. y REY- the stoics), philosophers have tried to formal- NOLDS, M. (1994). Temporal Logic. Mathematical ize time. It is only around the fifties, starting Foundations and Computational Aspects. Volume 1. with the work of Arthur Prior, when temporal Oxford: Oxford University Press. logic is developed considerably with the devel- (MV) opment of new systems used to represent dif- ferent types of time (linear time, infinite time, branching time, etc.). The foundation of pos- THESAURUS (S. tesauro, F. thésaurus, G. sible worlds semantics was vital for the seman- thesaurus) [Information retrieval] concept tics of such systems. These systems have Contents.— 1) Thesaurus elements, 2) Thesaurus fea- found applications in a variety of fields, the tures, 3) Differences between Ontologies and Thesauri, 4) most representative being those of linguistics Methodologies to build Thesauri, 5) Some Thesauri online, and computer science. 6) Software to edit and manage Thesauri, 7) Standards Temporal logic systems can be based on prop- A thesaurus is a controlled vocabulary used to ositional logic or on first order logic. On both represent the concepts of a specific domain cases operators are added to represent the past systematically. The thesaurus identifies the re- (P and H) and the future (F and G). It is also lationships between concepts. Every concept possible to include operators to represent in- is represented by a single term, called a de- tervals. The most common semantics is based scriptor. Thesauri are resources developed to on the notion of moment. These moments are index documents by these descriptors. organized through an ulteriority relation (be- 1. Thesaurus elements. The thesaurus con- fore/after). Hence, if I claim that m0 < m1 I sists of: am claiming that moment m0 is previous to moment m1. This ulteriority relation has dif- Descriptors: normalized terms. Descriptors rep- ferent properties depending on the type of resent a relevant concept in the domain. time we are working with, although it is always Non-descriptor: Some descriptors might have an irreflexive. Thus, for instance, if time is transi- equivalent term, called a non-descriptor. A tive, the ulteriority relation will have the tran- non-descriptor can only address one de- sitive property and syntactically transitivity ax- scriptor in the thesaurus. These terms repre- ioms will be introduced (FFA→FA and sent an equivalence relationship with a single PPA→PA). descriptor in the domain; they could be used There are multimodal and bidimensional sys- to expand the query. tems of temporal logic, such as the system of Hierarchical relationships: they represent the rela- indeterministic time HN1, which combines tion between a generic concept and a specific temporal and modal operators and in whose concept. This relationship includes: Broader- semantic, evaluation is made in two indices Narrower Concepts; Genus-Species; Whole- (moment and history). Parts; and Class-Instances. Polyhierarchies, a 210 glossariumBITri THESAURUS specific concept with two or more generic 3. Differences between Ontologies and concepts are allowed Thesauri. The thesaurus has a few predefined elements. It has a lexical nature, and its main Associative relationship: This is a relationship to applications are in natural language. The origin link concepts semantically. It is used when of the thesaurus was on paper, nowadays the there is no hierarchical or equivalence relation thesaurus has moved to digital media. This im- Scope notes: This is an explanatory note about plies the codification of thesauri using web the scope and utilization of a descriptor. languages, like RDF or XML, and expressing thesaurus elements with metadata vocabular- Example: ies, like SKOS. CAR Ontology has a semantic nature. Its origin was BT automotive vehicle in philosophy, logical mathematics and artifi- NT ambulance NT cab cial intelligence. It enables inference by a set RT driver of rules, axioms, and restrictions. The current RT road success of ontologies is due to their presence UF automobile in the Semantic Web. In this context, they pro- SN Regarding part of a train, see railcar vide a necessary way to share knowledge on where BT stands for Broader Term; NT Narrower the Web. One of the main concerns is interop- Term; RT Related Term; UF Use For; and SN Scope erability, which is a property that ensures that Note unknown software will be able to work with 2. Thesaurus features ontologies all over the Web. Interoperability Domain coverage. Some thesauri are multidisci- needs to represent knowledge in a formalized plinary; others just cover a specific domain. way, like RDF or OWL. Primitives of ontolo- Multidisciplinary contexts increase the ambi- gies are properties (slots), instances, hierar- guity. This is due to a higher probability of chies, and relationships. polysemes and homonyms. An important difference with ontologies is Output formats: Usually, a thesaurus layout has that thesauri are built to facilitate an existing two output formats on paper: alphabetic and information need. Ontologies have a proactive systematic (hierarchical). The rise of the web origin. They are often built before the need has produced an increase in web formats, arises. XML or RDF, both with the metadata vocab- Both, ontologies and thesauri, represent the ulary SKOS. Other vocabularies have been main concepts of a domain, and its relation- proposed like Zthes, BS8723, MADS, or ships. Methodologies to build ontologies and Topic Maps' PSI. thesauri share their first steps, but the higher Monolingual/Multilingual: Multilingual contexts semantic and logic load nature of ontologies have the same problems as multidisciplinary divides later stages in their respective develop- context. ments. In the ontology literature, thesauri are called light ontologies. Building ontologies is a Polyhierarchies/Monohierarchies: problems with laborious task, and to work with a natural lan- polyhierarchies are due to query expansion in guage thesaurus represents a more efficient a random way. and simple approach. Uniterms/Compound terms. Compound terms 4. Methodologies to build thesaurus are usually nouns, but some thesauri have ad- jectives (as part of compound terms), acro- 1) Firstly, identify the information needs that nyms, verbs and proper nouns. the thesaurus will satisfy and the domain to be covered. glossariumBITri 211 THESAURUS 2) Next, similar thesauri and resources must Domain Reuse: This suite has some tools to be analyzed to see if they can be utilized. perform term filtering and to identify relation- 3) Select software to edit and codify the the- ships between terms. saurus. User interfaces to manage and query TemaTres: A free platform to edit and man- must be as intuitive and friendly as possible. age thesauri on the Web. It can export to sev- 4) Main terms must be selected. Typically, re- eral Web formats and use different metadata sources needed to identify these terms are vocabularies. domain experts or specialized literature. ThManager: a tool to edit and manage the- 5) Define a small number of seed terms in the sauri, free, and multilingual. It exports with thesaurus. Usually, around 10 is enough. Dublin Core and SKOS formats. This soft- 6) Terms must be arranged in a hierarchical ware can extract terms with WordNet. way. Usually, new terms are included to 7. Standards avoid gaps in the hierarchical structure. 7) Relationships between concepts must be ISO 2788 (1986) Guidelines for the Establish- defined. ment and Development of Monolingual The- sauri. 8) Train Indexers to use the thesaurus. 9) Maintain, update and improve the thesau- Z39.19 (2005) Guidelines for the Construc- rus. tion, Format, and Management of Monolin- gual Thesauri 5. Some thesaurus online ISO 5964 (1985) Guidelines for the Establish- Agrovoc: multilingual thesaurus developed by ment and Development of Multilingual The- FAO and focused on agriculture. It has an sauri. It is one of the first standards to talk equivalent thesaurus in NALT. about the alignment problems. CAB Thesaurus: focused on life sciences ISO 13250 (2003) Topic Maps, were devel- Canadian literacy thesaurus: literature the- oped to merge index of words, and its Pub- saurus, bilingual. lished Subject Indicators (PSIs) about thesauri are strongly related to the SKOS proposal. Eurovoc: multilingual thesaurus, developed by EU to manage administrative documents Related Resources: : Medical Subject Headings, one of the ― Cab thesaurus. [Online] 212 glossariumBITri TOPIC MAPS the Future. Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, vol. expressed in XML to improve intereroperabil- 37, nº 3/4, pp. 5-21. ity. Despite the name, graphic representation ― LANCASTER, F. W. (1995) El control del vocabulario en la recuperación de la información. València : Universi- is not the main concern of this standard. tat de València, , p. 286 UML and Entity Relationships Diagrams: ― SLYPE, G. van. (1991). Lenguajes de indización : concep- ción, construcción y utilización en los sistemas documentales. UML stands for Unified Modeling Language, Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez. P 200. together with Entity Relationship Diagrams, it ― PÉREZ AGÜERA, J.R. (2004). Automatización de is the most popular graphical resource in Soft- tesauros y su utilización en la Web Semántica. BID: ware Engineering. Their combined goal is to textos universitaris de biblioteconomía i documentació, Desembe 2004, nº 13. [Online] improve the communication between non glossariumBITri 213 TRUTH VALUE known as the Bacon number) is one of its met- Conceptuales". Revista De Informática Educativa, Vol. rics. This number computes the coauthorship 13, n. 2, 2000, pp. 145-158. ― JACOBSON, I.; BOOCH, G.; RUMBAGH, J. distance between the mathematician Erdős (1998). The Unified Software Development Process. Addi- and another author. Other measures are cen- son Wesley Longman. trality and cohesion. ― MOREIRO, J.A.; SANCHEZ-CUADRADO, S.; MORATO, J. (2003). "Panorámica y tendencias en Web Concept Navigation: Navigation by Topic Maps". Hipertext.net, 2003, nº 1. web links is one of the most important devel- ― NOVAK, J.D.; GOWIN, D.B. (1988). Aprendiendo a opments of concept maps. This topic is taken aprender. Martinez Roca: Barcelona. [Online] 214 glossariumBITri TURING’S HALTING THEOREM standard computation. Imagine we introduce or a language) is recursive if and only if both arbitrary finite sequences in a system under the itself and its complement are recursively enu- following rules: (1) answer “yes” if the se- merable. quence codes a program which terminates, (2) For example, consider the problem TERMI- answer “no” if it doesn't (does not codify a NATES, posing the task of determining, given programm or does not terminate).This is Tu- a program with code m and an input n for it, ring's Halting problem, for which he proofed if the program terminates or not at n. The the inexistence of any algorithmical decision problem TERMINATES(m,n) is recursively procedure. The interest of this undecidability enumerable, since there is a program accepting result lies in the purely logical reasons sup- TERMINATES, that is, a program terminat- porting it and exporting its uncomputability ing whenever its input is in TERMINATES, results to any procedure able to answer it. and not doing it in any contrary case. A pro- Moreover, Rice generalizes and extends Tu- gram computing TERMINATES terminates ring's results for any non-trivial property of at some input n. partial functions. Let us now consider the complement NON- It is important to notice that this and other TERMINATES of the problem TERMI- limitative results from logic, such as incom- NATES. If there is a program for it, it will ter- pleteness, do not teach us that we are able to minate if its input is in NONTERMINATES, proof results that are beyond any computer. and in any contrary case it won’t terminate. As We can, but this is not surprising, belief them. we shall see, NONTERMINATES is not re- 2. Concepts. The general notion of computa- cursively enumerable, and hence TERMI- tion is usually made precise by means of the NATES is not recursive. This is, informally concept of recursion. Church's Thesis states summarized, the course of the following argu- that all computable functions are recursive. ment. Under this asumption, all computable fun- 3. Proofs cions are definable in a fragment of the lan- guage of formal arithmetic, or, equivalently, by Enumeration Theorem. There is a dyadic re- means of Turing's Machine Algorithms. lation T(x,y) which is recursively enumerable and recursively enumerates all recursive enu- In this way, to each program or computation merable sets. That is, for any recursively enu- M corresponds a natural number n which is its merable set C there is a code e such that code or index Mn. The result of introducing C={n:T(e,n)}. an input k in the machine M, gives as a result a sequence M(k). Since computation languages Proof: Let Re be the set {x:T(e,x)}. Te is recur- are themselves sequences, they apply to them- sively enumerable, since both T and e are de- selves, just as a calculation can be applied over finable in the language RE. Now, C being bt its own code (Mm(m)). This is the source ot hypothesis also enumerable recursive, it is de- may fruitful applications and also of some cru- fined by a formula in a free variable x. Let e be cial limitations of computability. the code or Gödel number of such formula. Hence, C=Te. A set is recursively enumerable whenever it is definable in the language RE of formal first Certain “diagonal” theorem. The diagonal order Arithmetic (basicly the standard lan- relation is not computable (recursive). guage of formal arithmetic without negation Proof: Let K be the set {x:T(x,x)}. K is recur- and with bounded cuantificación). Equiva- sively enumerable, but its complement –K it's lently, we call a language recursively enumera- not. If it were, -K=Te for some e. But for all ble if it contains all finite sequences codifying x, by the definition of complement, x belongs a Turing machine and an input, so that the ma- to –K if and only if x does not belong to Tx. chine stops at that input. A set (or a problem, glossariumBITri 215 TURING’S HALTING THEOREM In the particular case of e, we have e belongs ― BOOLOS, G., BURGUESS, J. & JEFFREY, R. to –K if and only if e does not belong to Te, (2003). Computability and Logic. Cambridge: Uni- versity Press. that is, e does not belong to –K, which is a ― COPELAND, J. (2009). The Turing Archive. [on classical contradiction. line] http://www.alanturing.net/turing_archive/ [visited: 20/12/2009] Halting Theorem. TERMINATES is not ― FITTING, M. (2000). Notes on Incompleteness and computable (recursive). Undecidability. New York: CUNY. ― KRIPKE, S. (1995). Elementary Recursion Theory Proof: Suppose for reductio that the two argu- and its applications to formal Systems. Princeton, ment function t (m,n) were computable being MS. t(m,n)=1 or =0 depending on whether the ma- ― PAPADIMITRIOU (1995). Computacional Com- chine m with n as input terminates or not. Un- plexity. Reading (Mass.): Addison Wesley. ― SALTO, F. (2006). “Verdad y Recursividad”, in J. der this assumption, the diagonal function Méndez (ed.) Artículos de segunda Mano, Sala- t(n,n)=t’(n) is also computable, which is im- manca: Varona. pp. 51-156 possible by the previous diagonal theorem. ― SMULLYAN, R. (1994). Diagonalization and Self- reference. Oxford: Clarendon Press. References ― TURING, A. (1937). “Computability and l-Defina- bility”. Journal of Symbolic Logic, 2, 153-163. (FS) 216 glossariumBITri U UNIFIED THEORY OF INFORMA- of the scholars named above have been con- TION (UTI) (S. Teoría Unificada de la Infor- tributing to the building up of a new Science of mación, F. Théorie Unifiée de l'Information, G. Ver- Information, though they might differ in the fea- einheitlichte Theorie der Information) [Research and sibility of a unified theory (Capurro et al. 1999, practice] theory Hofkirchner 2008, Marijuán 2008). Although the Anglo-Saxon term was used by Capurro and Hjørland (2003) criticize this ap- Kerns Powers (1956) "to provide a unified proach as having a metaphysical rather than a mathematical theory for the treatment of the scientific status insofar as “a view of the whole statistical processes by which information is of reality that is not possible for a finite ob- conveyed in communication systems", it is server” is assumed. now used in a more ambitious proposal that in References contrast to Power is not limited to the syntac- tical level. The UTI aims at a theoretical artic- ― CAPURRO, R., FLEISSNER, P., & ulation embracing all processes and structures HOFKIRCHNER, W. (1999). "Is a Unified Theory of Information Feasible? A Trialogue". In Hofkirch- related to the creation, transformation and the ner, W. (Ed.), The quest for a unified theory of information. crystallizing out of information in cognitive, Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach. pp. 9-30. [Online] communicative and cooperative contexts, by glossariumBITri 217 USABILITY ― POWERS, Kerns (1956). A Unified Theory of Infor- ― Dix, Alan (2004). Human-Computer Interaction. 3rd ed. mation. Cambridge. USA: Massachusetts Institute of Harlow [etc.]: Pearson Education. Technology. ― Nielsen, Jacob (1993). Usability Engineering. London: Academic Press. (WH –ed.-; JMD, WH) ― Nielsen, Jacob (2000). Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity. Indianapolis: New Riders Publis- hing. USABILITY (S. usabilidad, F. utilisabilité, ― Nielsen, Jacob and Tahir, Marie (2001). Homepage usabilité, G. Benutzerfreundlichkeit, Benutzungs- Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed. Indianapolis: New freundlichkeit) [Engineering, Information Riders Publishing. ― Nielsen, Jacob and Loranger, Hoa (2006). Prioritizing management, ICTs] concept, discipline Web Usability. Berkeley CA: New Riders Press, Usability is a discipline whose primary goal is ― Norman, Donald (1990). The Design of Everyday to be involved in the design of objects and re- Things. Nova York: Doubleday. ― Rubin, Jeffrey (1994). Handbook of Usability Testing: sources in order to make them more conven- How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests. New ient and easy to use. York: John Wiley. ― Spence, Robert (2007). Information Visualization. Har- In the context of software and web pages, the low, England: Addison-Wesley. term "usability" is used to describe the disci- ― Thatcher, Jim (2002). Constructing Accessible Web Sites. pline concerned with controlling how easily a Birmingham: Glasshaus. digital resource can be used; that is to say, it (MPM –ed.-; MPM, MG) assesses how this resource facilitates or hin- ders the use of it. References ― CLARK, Joe (2003). Building Accessible Websites. In- dianapolis, Ind: New Riders. 218 V VIRTUAL (E. vitrual, F. virtual(elle), A. virtuell) of what is lived when simulating a model than [transdisciplinary, semantics, epistemology]con- when experimenting with virtual realities? cept Virtual can also be interpreted as having some If we look up “virtual” on the dictionary we sort of misleading element, for instance, as- will find: “1. Existing or resulting in essence or sumed reconstructions of the past or future effect though not in actual fact, form, or name: predictions that are said to be inevitable. It is the virtual extinction of the buffalo. 2. Exist- a case of virtual reality when, in order for a city ing in the mind, especially as a product of the to obtain the UNESCO world heritage recog- imagination. Used in literary criticism of a text. nition, it is not enough to have beautiful 3. Computer Science Created, simulated, or streets or well kept houses, but rather it is re- carried on by means of a computer or com- quired that it has an idea behind it. Things like puter network: virtual conversations in a cha- being designed according to the mentality of troom.” the Enlightment could be enough and so, the past is reconstructed so that it becomes suita- So we understand virtual as potentiality, ability ble. It is enough for the idea to be believable, to be. Things experienced as they could possi- and if it is indeed the case, most people will bly be. Something absurd can never be virtual. end up believing it (regardless of whether it is To be considered as virtual, something has to true or not). Recently television (“National be plausible in experience. It is similar to the Geographic” and others), is full of documen- case of perceptual illusions, even when it is ex- taries where the past and the future are recon- plained to us that something is a perceptual il- structed. We see programs about evolution lusion, we cannot help perceiving it (the oppo- made with amazing techniques or investiga- site occurs with, for instance, logical fallacies). tion programs about the murder of some Moreover, with regard to the virtual, even Egyptian emperor. When we see them, we get though we know it is a fiction, it is not possible the impression of watching something real, of to avoid the feeling of reality. seeing the truth about things. Even though we Virtual is a special type of simulation. The dif- know there is not enough information to ference between the virtual and other types of know what really happened, we believe what simulations can be located on the way of per- they tell us, these programs are appealing, be- ceiving what we experience. Whereas with a cause they tell us the story on an entertaining simulation model, one is normally aware that and didactical way. Also, it is announced on one is presenting hypotheses and checking the news that we can now see the real face of what happens with them, thinking of different Jesus Christ (or Nefertiti) and they show it to scenarios to choose a line of action, with the us, but if we listen closely we realize it is a mere virtual one normally tries to live experiences in reconstruction from the heads of people from a new scenario (like in the case of games, now the same age and time. As if they could not be so popular, involving virtual life). The prob- different from their kind. In some cases, like lem is whether these experiences are lived as when predicting facts about the future real or not. Do we have the same perception glossariumBITri 219 VIRTUAL through a series of data, we do not have im- ― VÁZQUEZ, M. (1995). "En torno a los conceptos ages. It would seem that without images we de modelo, sistema y simulación". BRONCANO, F. (ed). Nuevas meditaciones sobre la técnica. Madrid: cannot have virtual reality. I do not think so. I Trotta, pp. 81-97. believe that what is characteristic about the ― VÁZQUEZ, M., LIZ, M. & ARACIL, J. (1996). virtual is the perception from the user of that "Knowledge and Reality: Some Conceptual Issues in as real. If a series of fictional data is perceived System Dynamics Modelling". System Dynamics Re- view, Vol. xii (1), pp. 21-37.CHEN, Chaomei as real, then it is up to a certain extent a virtual (1999). Information Visualisation and Virtual Environ- reality. ments. Springer Verlag References (MV) ― SIMON, H. (1973). The Sciences of the Artificial. Bos- ton: MIT Press. 220 glossariumBITri Table of contents A...... 17 E ...... 75 Algorithmic information ...... 17 Emotion ...... 75 Algorithmic Information Theory ...... 17 Encoder and Decoder ...... 75 Alphabet ...... 20 Endogenous Information ...... 76 Angeletics ...... 21 Entropy or amount of information ...... 80 Audio-visual content ...... 23 F ...... 83 Autopoiesis ...... 24 Feedback ...... 83 Axiomatics for Algorithmic Information .... 25 Floksonomy ...... 84 C ...... 29 Fotoblogs and Adolescents ...... 84 Channel theory ...... 29 Fuzzy Logic ...... 88 Code ...... 35 G...... 99 Commodification ...... 36 General Theory of Information (GTI) ...... 99 Communication ...... 37 H ...... 101 Communication Channel ...... 40 Hermeneutics ...... 101 Content ...... 41 Holographic Principle ...... 108 Context ...... 41 I ...... 109 Contradiction ...... 43 Image ...... 109 Correlation ...... 45 Incremental Information ...... 111 Critical theory of information, Incompleteness ...... 111 communication, media and technology ...... 45 Indexing Language ...... 112 Cybernetics ...... 58 Info-computationalism ...... 113 D ...... 65 Infomorphism ...... 114 Data ...... 65 Infon ...... 115 Dialogic vs. discursive ...... 67 Information Aesthetics ...... 116 Difference ...... 68 Information and Communication Digital divide ...... 69 Technologies (ICT) ...... 120 Disinformation ...... 70 Information Architecture ...... 121 Document ...... 71 Information Ethics ...... 122 Document Content Analysis ...... 73 Information Literacy ...... 128 Dretske, Fred ...... 73 Information Management ...... 129 glossariumBITri 221 Information Flow ...... 129 Representation ...... 184 Information Reports ...... 131 Reversibility vs Non-Reversi-bility ...... 184 Information Retrival ...... 133 Roboethics ...... 185 Information Visualization ...... 135 S ...... 187 Informational Content ...... 135 Self-re-creation ...... 187 Informationism ...... 136 Self-regulation vs Automatic Regulation .. 188 Input vs Output ...... 142 Self-reproduction ...... 190 Intercultural Information Ethics ...... 142 Self-restructuring ...... 190 K ...... 150 Semantic Content ...... 191 Knowledge ...... 150 Semantic Web...... 192 Knowledge Management ...... 154 Shannon, Claude Elwood ...... 193 Knowledge Organization ...... 156 Shannon´s fundamental theorems ...... 200 Knowledge Organization System ...... 157 Sign ...... 202 Kolmogorov complexity ...... 158 Situational Logic ...... 203 L ...... 163 Social Web ...... 204 Library Science ...... 163 Super-Recursive Kolmogorov Complexity205 M ...... 165 System ...... 207 Mathematical stratum of the GTI ...... 165 System Theory ...... 207 Mental Content ...... 165 T ...... 209 Message ...... 166 Taxonomy ...... 209 Mind ...... 170 Temporal Logic ...... 210 N ...... 173 Thesaurus ...... 210 Negantropy ...... 173 Topic Maps ...... 213 Non-Informational Access ...... 173 Truth Value...... 214 O ...... 175 Turing’s halting theorem ...... 214 Ontology ...... 175 U ...... 217 Open Access ...... 176 Unified Theory of Information (UTI) ...... 217 P ...... 179 Usability ...... 218 Paradox...... 179 V ...... 219 R ...... 181 Virtual ...... 219 Record ...... 181 Referential Ability ...... 182 Repository ...... 183 222 glossariumBITri View publication stats