colonel@buffalo.CSNET ("Col. G. L. Sicherman") (08/04/86)
In article <8608010557.AA11269@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>, larry@JPL-VLSI.ARPA writes: > The ability to quantify and measure pattern and shape has profound implica- > tions for the study of formerly mystical topics such as intelligence. It > means we can develop conservation laws for information, without which you > can't construct an essential ingredient of mathematics, equations. While I agree with much of the article, this assumption looks superfluous to me. Computer programs are a kind of mathematics, and they use assign- ments and functions rather than equations. More generally, I should like to see discussed what "information" means in the abstract sense. After all, anything can be said to contain all conceivable information about itself. Is "information" meaningful apart from communication?