Information is Not a Third Fundamental Quantity of the Universe
Keywords:
semantic information, syntactic information, Claude E. Shannon, Gregory Bateson, infoautopoiesis, senomeAbstract
The concept of information gained significant importance in the mid-twentieth century when Claude E. Shannon introduced the mathematical theory of communication. This groundbreaking development marked the birth of information science and the dawn of the 'Information Age'. The fascination with the concept of information spurred its application across various scientific disciplines, leading to the widely accepted yet flawed notion that information is a fundamental quantity of the universe, alongside matter and energy. Contrary to this view, more than twenty years after Shannon's proposal, Gregory Bateson defined information as the detection of a difference which makes a difference (to someone). This perspective emphasizes the role of information in the actions of living beings, as they assess changes in their environment to enhance their well-being. The concept of infoautopoiesis, or information self-production, describes a self-referential, recursive process of sensation-information-action intrinsic to living beings. This process underscores the importance of information for living organisms and illustrates how Shannon's information theory fits into this broader context. In summary, this paper challenges the validity of the widely accepted but flawed concept of information as a fundamental quantity of the universe.
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