INFORMATION, as an energy modulation
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1656 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
It is sometimes forgotten that no information can be transmimtted without an energy support of some kind. Moreover, this energy must be modulated, i.e. its transmission must be irregular, have some rhythmic complexity in form of a mix of waves. Thus the energy-information dichotomy is, in some sense a mental fabrication, becomes easily a quagmire, and should be used with care. In R.N. ADAMS words: “Information succeeds in stimulating, igniting, moving and more generally triggering energetic activity because, and only because, it is also energetic activity… The insistance on dualism has inhibited exploring how the two were related” (1988, p.80).
In this sense, the insistance of BATESON on information as consisting only of abstract “differences” may lead to epistemological problems.
All that we have learnt about the different forms of energy confirms that it presents always a variety of frequencies and amplitudes. On the other hand, physical sciences and technology showed that such frequencies and amplitudes may be, or not, perceived by various natural organic receptors, which became adapted in a selective way to only some of them.
Moreover, present technology allows artificial decoding of frequencies and amplitudes that cannot be perceived organically, and their conversion into perceptible ones. In this way we succeed in transforming potential information into usable one. Such is the case with ultra and infrasounds, radio waves, ultra-violet and infra-red radiation, X-rays, gamma-rays, etc…
In all these cases, there is no doubt that information is carried along by energy. However, the origin of modulations and of our ability to perceive only some of them is still not so clear.