information/vagueness.

[James N Rose <***>]

I just posted this to another list which is
collaterally discussing information.

I cc here for you as well.

Jamie
2005/01/23
===================================================== 

Particularly to Edwina & Stan,

Just before Herb Simon passed away there was an effort to 
bring him and Lotfi Zadeh together to reconcile Probability
Theory logic with Fuzzy logic.  I was active on Zadeh's BISC
list a bit and chimed in with my personal analysis circa 1998.

It is pertinent to the question of vagueness/freedom and
link it here for your consideration

<http://www.ceptualinstitute.com/math/stochastic.htm>



The mathematics of physics and mechanics notoriously
rests on closed systems and rigid equalities; even
quantum probabilities turn to nodal locations
with extremum lopped off; and chaos equations identify
attractor basins, where the furry fog of variable equation
tracks are dismissed the way mechanical measurement
variations are treated: as non-consequential 'noise'.

Fortunately, for the few of us who value -all- information
instead of just -predominating- information, the message is
crystal clear: that vagueness and freedom are -not- noise and
troublesome discontinuities. They do -not- imply or infer
some lack of information in an extant set, where if a new track
is taken or a novel event/stream arises, then it was because
of a failure of knowledge.

Hyper-information is not the -boon- of a system, guartanteeing
its stability and continuation - though it does accomplish that
to some degree; rather, its the -bane- of a system, acting more
like cholesterol that plaques up a blood conduit.  The conduit  
does become more rigid, more 'stable', secure against changes,
but it eventually over-does a good thing: it self blocks, it 
becomes more brittle, and eventually abandons the premier quality
of living systems: it becomes de-resilient and adaptive and adjusting.

The same holds true of EVERY aspect of systemic organization(s),
even the ones not typically evaluated per that qualia.

Atoms 'work' and form molecules because they -are not- mechanically
perfect and exactly defined/composed, for example.

Think about it.  If the natural state of atomic organization was
to attractor node around they 'most perfect' configurations, then
atom building would eventually produce only the noble atoms with
saturated electron shells .. and no atom atom interactions would
occur and no complexity arise 'naturally'.

ALL systems REQUIRE and ARE conglomerants and ensembles of
requisite indefiniteness, vagueness and freedom.  And no paradigm
of logic is appropriate if it also is not contrived to include -
as requisite - indefinite information, energy, qualia.

Hyper rigid logic is utile for the current criteria of mathematics: 
       
               n data in, m data out

The universe functions -only partially- on that premise.  The universe
also carries a rule of requisite degrees of freedom for all systems
and paradigms of systems.

Jamie Rose