INFORMATION (Degradation of)
Charles François (2004). INFORMATION (Degradation of), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 1660.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1660 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Methodology or model |
J.de ROSNAY discusses in the following way the progressive degradation of information: “Information which circulates in a channel becomes irreversibly degraded. This implies a very significant analogy with energy, which degrades… through entropy. For example if we make a mold of some statue and cast from this mold another statue from which we make another mold, it is highly probable that after a score of successive operations of this kind, the final form of the statue will be highly distorted…
- “To transmit information, energy must be spent. This energetic medium for information consists of light rays, sound waves, electric current in a telephone wire or the flight of the bee which transport pollen from one flower to another. This energy becomes weaker and scatters. It must be canalized and amplified. Moreover as the precision of some measurement needs to be greater, more energy must be spent” (1975, p. 169-170).
Thus is introduced the interrelation between entropy and information, both of which evolve in the time dimension.
See also
(Information half-life).