Interesting note on "information" and "uncertainty"...
Information is Uncertainty. The two words are synonyms.
Shannon called it "uncertainty", contemporary Information theory calls
it "information".
It is often thought that the more information there is, the less
uncertainty. The opposite is the case.
In Information Theory (aka the mathematical theory of communications) ,
the degree of information I(E) - or uncertainty U(E) - of an event is
measurable as an inverse function of its probability, as follows:
U(E) = I(E) = log( 1/Pr(E) ) = log(1) - log( Pr(E) ) = -log( Pr(E) ).
Considering I(E) as a random variable, Shannon's entropy is, in fact,
the first moment (or expectation) of I(E). Shannon entropy = exp( I(E) ).
Grant
On 6/5/2011 2:20 PM, Steve Smith wrote:
/"Philosophy is to physics as pornography is to sex. It's cheaper,
it's easier and some people seem to prefer it."
/
Modern Physics is contained in Realism which is contained in
Metaphysics which I contained in all of Philosophy.
I'd be tempted to counter:
/"Physics is to Philosophy as the Missionary Position is to the
Kama Sutra"/
Physics also appeals to Phenomenology and Logic (the branch of
Philosophy were Mathematics is rooted) and what we can know
scientifically is constrained by Epistemology (the nature of
knowledge) and phenomenology (the nature of conscious experience).
It might be fair to say that many (including many of us here) who hold
Physics up in some exalted position simply dismiss or choose to ignore
all the messy questions considered by *the rest of* philosophy.
Even if we think we have clear/simple answers to the questions, I do
not accept that the questions are not worthy of the asking.
The underlying point of the referenced podcast is, in fact, that
Physics, or Science in general might be rather myopic and limited by
it's own viewpoint by definition.
/ "The more we know, the less we understand."/
Philosophy is about understanding, physics is about knowledge first
and understanding only insomuch as it is a part of natural philosophy.
Or at least this is how my understanding is structured around these
matters.
- Steve
On Sun, Jun 5, 2011 at 1:15 PM, Robert Holmes
<rob...@holmesacosta.com <mailto:rob...@holmesacosta.com>> wrote:
>From the BBC's science podcast "The Infinite Monkey Cage
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/timc>":
"Philosophy is to physics as pornography is to sex. It's cheaper,
it's easier and some people seem to prefer it."
Not to be pedantic, but I suspect that s/he has conflated
"philosophy" with "new age", as much of science owes itself to
philosophy.
marcos
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============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
