General Theory of Information (GTI)
| Collection | GlossariumBITri |
|---|---|
| Author | Mark Burgin |
| Editor | Mark Burgin |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 2 |
| Number | 1 |
| ID | 7 |
| Object type | Discipline Theory |
| Domain | Formal Theories Mathematical Theories Trans-Disciplinary |
| es | Teoría general d ela información |
| fr | Theórie Générale de l'Information |
| de | Algemaine Theorie der Information |
The General Theory of Information proposed by Mark Burgin (2003, 2010) is a synthetic approach, which reveals the essence of information, organizing and encompassing all main directions in information theory. GTI has three parts or strata:
- Philosophical/phenomenological, which gives a new vision of information and its place in the modern world;
- Methodological, which studies basic principles of information theory and information technology (Principles of GTI);
- Theoretical, which is mathematically based making available different mathematical models of information, information processes and information processing systems (Mathematical stratum).
Under the awareness of the irreducible variety of information kinds, instead of pursuing a unitary definition of information, a parametric definition is developed on the phenomenological level of the general theory of information. By this means, information in the strict sense stands in a very flexible way for a capacity to cause changes in an infological system. It is the adaptability of these infological systems, which enables this approach to adapt to the multifaceted reality of information by means of formal models. On the other hand, on the theoretical level, the general theory of information provides tools for measuring and evaluating information.
Information levels
In the context of GTI, the concept of information is considered on three basic levels of generality:
- Information in a broad sense is considered when there are no restrictions on the infological system.
- Information in the strict sense is considered when the infological system consists of structural elements.
- Cognitive information is considered when the infological system consists of cognitive structures, such as knowledge, beliefs, ideas, images, etc.
An infological system IF(R) of the system R is called cognitive if IF(R) contains (stores) elements or constituents of cognition, such as knowledge, data, ideas, fantasies, abstractions, beliefs, etc. A cognitive infological system of a system R is denoted by CIF(R) and is related to cognitive information.
Consequently, we have three levels of information understanding:
- Information in a broad sense for a system R is a capability (potential) to change (transform) this system in any way.
- Information in the strict sense for a system R is a capability (potential) to change (transform) structural components of this system, e.g., cognitive information changes knowledge of the system, affective information changes the state of the system, while effective information changes system orientation.
- Cognitive information for a system R is a capability (potential) to change (transform) the cognitive subsystem of this system.
References
- BURGIN, M. (2010). Theory of Information: Fundamentality, Diversity and Unification. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing.