MEANING AND INFORMATION
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 2037 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
J. S. WICKEN states: A “reader” brings implicit information to read which is read as part of the system information in which he/she participates- whether this be a theory or a poem. We don't know how to quantify this dimension of information. An organism, in an important sense, results from the grammar of its own generation: we don't know that grammar yet. Although we can understand order and complexity in crisp mathematical terms, “meaning” requires a transaction between knower and known whose terms are presently remote from our understanding“ (1979, p.142).
What the “reader” introduces in the process of meaning formation depend on her/his cultural location, historically as well as geographically and his/her specialization. Moreover, everyone brings in his/her own “mindscape” (see MARUYAMA, 1966).
Meaning is mainly subservient to implicit knowledge, i.e. formerly acquired and organized information.