Werner Gitt's Information Theorems

From ResearchID.org

(Redirected from Gitt's Information Theorems)
Jump to: navigation, search

Prof. Dr. Werner Gitt formed thirty two empirical information theorems that detail Gitt's information hierarchy of: Statistics: (properties), Syntax: (structure), Semantics: (meaning), Pragmatics: (achievables), and Apobetics: (Sender's purposes). Dr. Gitt laid out his information hierarchy in technical publications and in his 1994 German book Am Anfang war die Information[1], and 1997, 2000 English books In the Beginning was Information. From his theorems, Gitt argues that information theory refutes evolution. See: Gitt's outline. Gitt's Information Theorems provide a potential structure on which to develop theories of Intelligent Design.

Contents

[edit]

Gitt's Information Hierarchy

Werner Gitt categorized information into a hierarchy with five levels:

  1. Statistics: Measured symbol frequencies, channel capacity etc. See: Information Uncertainty, Information Entropy, or Shannon's Theory
  2. Syntax: All structural properties of setting up information.
  3. Semantics: Meaning of symbols.
  4. Pragmatics: Achievables - Recipients actions to achieve sender's purposes.
  5. Apobetics: Sender's purposes.
[edit]

Gitt's Information Theorems

Werner Gitt formulated the following empirical information definitions, conditions, theorems, and properties within this five level information hierarchy. (NOTE: As the Author Werner Gitt has posted the full text of In the Beginning was Information(1.22 MB), for free download, the following extracts are assumed to be covered by fair use doctrine for scientific review and discussion, unless retracted by the Author Werner Gitt or the Publisher Christiliche Literatur-Verbreitung e. V.)

  • Theorem 1: The fundamental quantity information is a nonmaterial (mental) entity. It is not a property of matter, so that purely material processes are fundamentally precluded as sources of information. ITBWI p47
  • Theorem 2: Information only arises through an intentional, volitional act. ITBWI p48
  • Theorem 3: Information comprises the nonmaterial foundation for all technological systems and for all works of art. ITBWI p49
[edit]

Necessary Conditions for Information

  • NC1: A number of symbols are required to establish information. ITBWI p50
  • NC2: The sequence of the symbols must be irregular. ITBWI p50
  • NC3: The symbols must be written in some recognizable order, such as drawn, printed, chiseled, or engraved in rows, columns, circles, or spirals. ITBWI p50
[edit]

1st (Lowest) Information Level: Statistics - Properties

[edit]

Definitions: Statistics

  • Definition 1: According to Shannon's theory any random sequence of symbols is regarded as information, without regard to its origin or whether it is meaningful or not. ITBWI p55
  • Definition 2: The statistical information content of a sequence of symbols is a quantitative concept, measured in bits (binary digits.) ITBWI p55
[edit]

Statistics Theorems

  • Theorem 4: A message which as been subject to interference or “noise”, in general comprises more Shannon entropy (“information”) than an error-free message. ITBWI p55
  • Theorem 5: Shannon's definition of information exclusively concerns the statistical properties of sequences of symbols; meaning is completely ignored. ITBWI p57
[edit]

2nd Information Level: Syntax - Structure

  • Theorem 6: A code is an essential requirement for establishing (representing) information. ITBWI p64
[edit]

Definition: Syntax

  • Definition 3: Syntax is meant to include all structural properties of the process of setting up information. ITBWI p58
[edit]

Necessary Conditions for a Code

  • NC1: A uniquely defined set of symbols is used. ITBWI p62
  • NC2: The sequence of the individual symbols must be irregular. ITBWI p62
  • NC3: The symbols appear in clearly distinguishable structures. (e.g. Rows, columns, blocks, or spirals.) ITBWI p62
  • NC4: Usually at least some symbols must occur repeatedly. ITBWI p62
[edit]

Sufficient Condition

  • SC1: It can be decoded successfully and meaningfully (e.g., hieroglyphics and the genetic code). ITBWI p63
[edit]

Syntax Theorems, contd.

  • Theorem 7: The allocation of meanings to the set of available symbols is a mental process depending on convention. ITBWI p65
  • Theorem 8: Once a code has been defined by convention, it must be strictly adhered to afterwards. ITBWI p65
  • Theorem 9: If the information is to be understood, the particular code must be known by both the sender and the recipient. ITBWI p65
  • Theorem 10: Per Theorem 6, only structures which are based on a code can represent information. This is a necessary, but not sufficient condition for the establishment of information. ITBWI p67
  • Theorem 11: A code system is always the result of a mental process. It requires an intelligent origin or inventor. ITBWI p67
  • Theorem 12: Any given piece of information can be represented by any selected code. ITBWI p67
[edit]

Definition: Actual Syntax

  • Definition 4: The actual syntax describes the construction of sentences and phrases, as well as the structural media required for their formation. The set of possible sentences of a language is defined by means of a formalised or formalisable assemblage of rules. This comprises the morphology, phonetics, and vocabulary of the language. ITBWI p67
[edit]

3rd Information Level: Semantics - Meanings

  • Theorem 13: Any piece of information has been transmitted by somebody and is meant for somebody. A sender and a recipient are always involved whenever and wherever information is concerned. ITBWI p70
  • Theorem 14: Any entity, to be accepted as information, must entail semantics; it must be meaningful. ITBWI p70
  • Theorem 15: When its progress along the chain of transmission events is traced backwards, every piece of information leads to a mental source, the mind of the sender. ITBWI p70
  • Theorem 16: If a chain of symbols considered only a statistical sequence of characters, it does not represent information. ITBWI p71
[edit]

4th Information Level: Pragmatics - Achievables

  • Theorem 17: Information always entails a pragmatic aspect. ITBWI p74
  • Theorem 18: Information is able to cause the recipient to take some action (stimulate, initialize, or implement.) ITBWI p75
This reactive functioning of information is valid for both inanimate systems (e.g., computers, and an automatic car wash) as well as living organisms (e.g., activities in cells, actions of animals, and activities of human beings).
  • Theorem 19: Every piece of information is intentional (the teological aspect). ITBWI p77
[edit]

5th Information Level: Apobetics - Purpose

  • Theorem 21: The five aspects of information (statistics, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and apobetics) are valid for both the sender and the recipient. The five levels are involved in a continuous interplay between the two. ITBWI p78
  • Theorem 22: The separate aspects of information are interlinked in such a way that every lower level is a necessary prerequisite for the realisation of the next one above it. ITBWI p78
  • Theorem 23: There is no known natural law through which matter can give rise to information, neither is any physical process or material phenomenon known that can do this. ITBWI p79
[edit]

Fundamental Properties of Information

  • Property 1: Information is not the thing itself, neither is it a condition, but it is an abstract representation of material realities or conceptual relationships, like problem formulations, ideas, programs, or algorithms. The representation is in a suitable coding system and the realities could be objects, or physical, chemical, or biological conditions. The reality being represented, is usually not present at the time and place of the transfer of information, neither can it be observed or measured at that moment. ITBWI p84
  • Property 2: Information always plays a substitutionary role. The encoding of reality is a mental process. ITBWI p84
[edit]

Definition: Information Domain

  • Definition D5: The domain A of definition of information includes only systems which encode and represent an abstract description of some object or idea as illustrated in Figure 15. This definition is valid in the case of the given examples (book, newspaper, computer program, DNA molecule, or hieroglyphics), which means that these lie inside the described domain. When a reality is observed directly, this substitutionary and abstract function is absent, and examples like a star, a house, a tree, or a snowflake do not belong to our definition of information (Part B). The proposed theorems are as valid as natural laws inside the domain we have just defined. ITBWI p85
[edit]

Apobetics Theorems contd.

  • Theorem 24: Information requires a material medium for storage. ITBWI p85
  • Theorem 25: Biological information is not an exceptional kind of information, but it differs from other systems in that it has a very high storage density and that it obviously employs extremely ingenious concepts. ITBWI p97
  • Theorem 26: The information present in living beings must have had a mental source. ITBWI p96
  • Theorem 27: Any model for the origin of life (and of information) based solely on physical and/or chemical processes, is inherently false. ITBWI p99
  • Theorem 28: There is no known law of nature, no known process and no known sequence of events which can cause information to originate by itself in matter. ITBWI p107
  • Theorem 29: Every piece of creative information represents some mental effort and can be traced to a personal idea-giver who exercised his own free will, and who is endowed with an intelligent mind. ITBWI p113
  • Theorem 30: New information can only originate in a creative thought process. ITBWI p113
[edit]

Statistical Theorems

  • Theorem A1: In the case of symbol sequences of equal probability (e.g., the digits generated by a random number generator) the average information content of a symbol is equal to the information content of each and every individual symbol.
  • Theorem A2: Random letter sequences of sequences produced by statistical processes do not comprise information. Even if the information content could be calculated according to Shannon's theory, the real nature of information is still ignored.
[edit]

Controversy and criticism

Critics claim Gitt's work has been rejected by the scientific community as pseudomathematics. Rich Baldwin criticizes Gitt's work in an article entitled Information Theory and Creationism: Werner Gitt. [1] Gitt "describes his principles as "empirical." Baldwin objects that the data is not provided to back this up[2] and that Gitt proposes fourteen 'theorems,' yet fails to demonstrate them. [3]. Tom Schneider critiques Gitt's Information Theorems claiming errors. Schneider claims his "Ev" program disproves some of Gitt's theorems. I.D.G. Strachan and other ISCID critics however dispute Schneider's claims about "Ev". [2] [3]

J.T. Trevors(a) and D.L. Abel address the issue of the a code with mutually recognized "sense," supporting Gitt's Theorem 9. [4]

[edit]

References

  1. ↑ * 1994 "Am Anfang war die Information" Hänssler, Neuhausen-Stuttgart, Germany
  2. ↑ I.G.D. Strachan: An Evaluation of "Ev"
  3. ↑ I.G.D. Strachan, An Evaluation of "Ev", ISCID Archives June 30, 2003.
  4. ↑ J.T. Trevors & D.L. Abel, Chance and necessity do not explain the origin of life Cell Biology International, Vol. 28, #11 , Nov. 2004, pp 729-739
[edit]

Gitt's Information Publications

Selected Information technical publications (from "In the Beginning was Information" (2000) pp 249-250 References):

  • G4 Gitt, W.; Information und Entropie als Bindeglieder diverser Wissenschaftszweige. PTB-Mitt. 91 (1981), pp 1-17
  • G8 Gitt, W.; "Künstliche Intelligenz" - Möglichkeiten undGrenzen - PTB-Bericht TWD-34, 1989, 43 p.
  • G9 Gitt, W.; Information: The Third Fundamental Quantity, Siemens Review, Vol. 56, No. 6 Nov./Dec. 1989, pp. 2-7
  • G18 Gitt, W.; Information-A Fundamental Quantity in Natural and Technological Systems Second Conference on the Foundations of Information - The Quest for a Unified Theory of Information. Vienna University of Technology, 11-15 June 1996.
  • Gitt, W.; Information, science and biology Technical Journal 10(2):181-187, 1996
  • Energie - optimal durch Information, 200 p, ISBN 3775111018
  • In the Beginning was Information 1997 ISBN 3-89397-255-2
[edit]

External links

Retrieved from "http://www.researchintelligentdesign.org/wiki/Werner_Gitt%27s_Information_Theorems"
Personal tools

Add to Google

Add to My Yahoo!