Information and its main types - Theory of information processes and systems

Information and its main types

There are many attempts to define and understand the concept of "information". The study of the phenomenon of information, its types and peculiarities is carried out by philosophers, specialists in technical sciences, economists, psychologists.

The definitions of information depend on the context, scope of activity.

For example, in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, a definition is given for public information: INFORMATION (from Latin informatio - clarification, presentation) - information, any activity, etc ... The genres of information are diverse - notes, correspondence, chronicles, interviews, reports ... etc. "

In the dictionary of computer technology, "INFORMATION (information; information; informations, renseignements) - the content (meaning) of the message (signal), information about something considered in the process of their transfer and at the time of their perception. "

Wikipedia defines Information (from Latin informatio, clarification, presentation, awareness) - information about anything, regardless of the form of their presentation . And further explained: "At present, there is no single definition of information as a scientific term. From the point of view of various fields of knowledge, this concept is described by its specific set of characteristics. For example, the concept of information is basic in the course of computer science, and it is impossible to give its definition through other, more "simple" concepts (also in geometry, for example, it is impossible to express the content of the basic concepts "point", "ray", "plane" through simpler concepts). The content of the basic concepts in any science should be explained by examples or identified by comparing them with the content of other concepts ... This concept is used in various sciences (computer science, cybernetics, biology, physics, etc.), while in every science the concept of " ; information is associated with various concept systems .

Federal Law "On Information, Informatization and Information Protection"; defined information as "information about persons, objects, facts, events, phenomena and processes, regardless of the form of their presentation."

In philosophy, the problem of information is discussed as a reflection of matter. In this case A. D. Ursul shows that the reflection and information - not the same thing (which implies that the "reflection" is something more complicated), introduces the concept of "information-reflective process" and the concept of information as reflected diversity, which requires an additional explanation of the concept of "diversity" and the introduction of appropriate measures of information.

By combining different aspects - reflection, transformation, use - the following definition can be adopted. Information is information about the surrounding world (object, process, phenomenon, event) that are transformed (including storage, transfer, processing, etc.) and used to develop behavior, to make decisions, to management or training.

Information is always associated with three concepts: information source - that element of the surrounding world, information about which is the object of transformation: consumer of information - that element of the surrounding world that uses information ; signal - a material carrier that captures information for transfer from source to consumer and code in the form of which information is transmitted.

As the study of the properties of information of different kinds came to the understanding that there are different types of information.

So, E. K. Voishvillo proposed to distinguish the information perception (signs) and information-value, meaning content for the information consumer (sign).

Awareness of the fact that there is information perceived (I) and its actualization, information formed ( I f) in each functional department modeling, searching, creativity, decision and will ») and is the result of the activity of the higher organs of the system, was also in the first works of FE Temnikov.

In the future, from the point of view of the user, the information was viewed in several aspects:

syntactic (or material-energy, sign, technological) - from the point of view of the technology of information transfer;

semantic - from the point of view of the meaning and correctness of the interpretation;

pragmatic - to achieve the consumer's goals.

For a long time in previous theories, these information were considered as separately existing, or as levels of information, for different levels introduced different estimates (for more details, see the next paragraph), and therefore a single definition of the notion of information was the subject discussions.

For a deeper understanding of these aspects, it is useful to get acquainted with the theory of the information field of AA Denisov, which information is considered as the structure of matter, as a category, relation to matter. In this theory, the concepts sensory and logical (semantic and pragmatic) information are introduced and it is shown that information for the consumer is the intersection of perception information ( sensory information) and its potential (logical information), resulting in the formation of a single concept - information meaning, information complexity.

At the same time, A. A. Denisov defines the information in the following way: "... information is a concept that can not be analyzed by formal logic and requires the use of dialectical logic, which provides the possibility of analysis not only absolutely, but also relatively true sayings [1, p. 239].

The basis of A. Denisov's information theory is mathematical field theory and a formalized representation of the laws of dialectical logic. The concept of information is considered as a pair category in relation to matter, as a structure of matter, not dependent on its specific properties. And in subsequent works AA Denisov criticizes on this basis F. Engels for removing the basic category of development (the absolute idea of ​​ Hegel ), , he deprived the main condition of development, To. Marx had to come up with "self-movement integrity."

A. A. Denisov takes the widely known definition В. I. I. Lenin : "Matter is an objective reality given to us in sensations , and with a refined definition, "Matter is a philosophical category for denoting an objective reality that is given to a person in his senses, which is copied, photographed, displayed by our senses, existing independently of them." replaces in feelings on: in the information & quot ;, because copied, photographed, displayed by our senses can be treated as receiving information with the help of various senses and the technical means that help them.

In one of the first publications in the central publishing houses, AA Denisov writes: "Indeed, since sensation is a source of information about the surrounding world, then speaking in modern language, material objects are given to us in information, the measurement of which does not cause fundamental difficulties" .

In the following, clarifying this idea, A. A. Denisov explains: "... the general term" reflection "is adopted for displaying all methods of obtaining information, and the general term" objective reality "is used to designate all primary sources of information . Instead of enumerating all possible sources of information and ways to get it out of them, one can simply talk about reflecting the objective reality in our consciousness, which always happens with the help of our sense organs (ie sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste) or technical additions Instruments that increase the resolution of sensory organs and accessible sources of information " [1, p. 240).

In this case, A. Denisov calls information, which we inherit (genetic) as sources, which form an objective reality, in the process of learning, communication between each other, from books and newspapers, and finally as a result of everyday Practical Activities .

In general, since reflection is not fully adequate to the object being reflected, AA Denisov, relying on the ideas E. Kant , believes that it makes sense to talk about information for us as a result of reflection and about information in itself, as an attribute of the matter itself. Since matter exists in space, it thus always has a structure. It is the structure as the distribution of matter in space characterized quantitatively and is information in itself.

Reproduction of the structure of matter on qualitatively different carriers or in our consciousness is according to Denisov information for us. There is a quantitative difference between these information, because information in itself J c in general the case is more information for us J n :

• in the linear approximation:

J n = R k J c = R k M; (1.2)

• in a more strict version:

J n = R k (J c ) J c = R k (M) M; (1.2, a)

where M - the measured material property (mass, color, charge, etc.) that creates J c; J n is sensory information (information for us), or perception information, which we will use for the sake of brevity without an index; R k - relative information permeability of the environment.

The relation (1.2) realizes the first of the postulates - about the adequacy of reflection of matter, the law of sensory reflection, according to which information is a function of matter, which, at least, for bounded increments has the character of proportional dependence.

Since sensory reflection occurs in time and space, information J is the sum of information flows from individual parts of a material object or from a collection of material objects that form an information field around the meter that senses it.


In the formalized view, this field can be displayed as follows. If we talk about the reflection of a material object or field by some arbitrary closed surface around it, the complete information will be made up of the sum of the information flows per unit (15 of the area of ​​this surface, that is, from 0 = dJ/dS.

In this case, there must be a Gauss theorem, which is a mathematical expression of the philosophical position about the cognizability of the world:


where O is the intensity vector of the existence stream (reflection); the integral is taken over the closed surface 5, embracing the phenomenon or object under study.

In a more strict version, the relation (1.2, a) means that any information in itself creates a field of existence, the total flow of which is adequate to this information, i.e. matter, which serves as the source of zero. This relation is similar to the Gauss theorem. It follows from the Gauss theorem in the form (1.3) that the source of the information field J is fundamentally completely identified by the reaction of certain test material objects to the field of existence he studies without direct contact with the source itself.

Taking into account (3), the Gauss theorem can be represented in the form


where He = R kO is the intensity vector of the reflection.

In contrast to (1.3), which denotes objectively real processes, independent of us or the environment, the relation (1.4) describes the process of sensory reflection, albeit as real, but depending both on the permeability of the medium and on the state of our sense organs, including their instrumental technical additions.

If the distribution of material properties is spherically symmetric, then on any spherical surface surrounding M, 0 = const and from (6) it follows:


(1.5, a)

where r is the distance from the center of symmetry to a given point of space. This means that the density O of information that can be gathered about an object in a particular point of space is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from this point to the object.

Since in a statics the material properties are sensibly adequately reflected by the environment, there must also be a logical reflection analogous to sensory, and accordingly logical information.

Logical information (essence ) H , unlike J, always referring to specific objects, or properties, characterizes a whole class of homogeneous ones in a certain the relation of objects or properties, being a semantic synthesis of the laws of logic, the rules of the functioning of the system and its elements that form the functional of its existence.

In this case, the logic of the displayed object refers to the objective logic of nature, the logic of the cause-effect relationships of the source and receiver of information. Then the law of logical reflection, embodying the adequacy of reflection in the absence of a priori knowledge, can be written as follows:


where E is the intensity vector of the logic (logic zero).

In the general case R depends on O, but always

(16, a)

where Н - field potential (essence of perceived information); r is the distance from the object to the point of space under study in spherical coordinates.

The law of logical reflection is the second axiom of the information field theory.

Any distribution of information against the background of the logical connections imposed on it must have a certain content. In analyzing certain situations, we often say that they have more or less significance in terms of certain goals. This recognizes the measurability of the content of the situation, although there is still no way for the corresponding measurements.

The concept of the information field allows you to find a quantitative estimate of content based on tracking the ways of implementing logical relationships. In this case, the content is determined by the interaction of objects in accordance with the laws of nature.

Information complexity , or content (meaning) C is determined by the intersection (logical product, and in special cases - the Cartesian product) J and H:

or (1.7)

Depending on whether C is applied to the characteristic of the whole system or its elements, we can talk about the system Cc, own C0 and mutual Sv complexity; while:


The relation (1.8) allows us to more deeply study the basic regularity of the theory of systems - the regularity of integrity (emergence), to understand that emergence provides Cv, and the more C (internal links), the greater the integrity of the system (for more details, see Ch. 3).

Initially, AA Denisov used the concepts of the mathematical theory of zero and called his theory the theory of the information field. But later, for practical applications, it turned out to be more convenient to use a discrete version of the theory, with which he explained the idea of ​​reflection of matter more popular for engineers and which made it possible to introduce measures of information.

According to the formula of cognition From living contemplation to abstract thinking, and from it to practice we can distinguish three stages of reflection of reality, which are shown in Fig. 1.4.

The stage of living contemplation (sensory reflection) begins with the selection of the object of our interest M (see Figure 1.4). Through the sense organs or measuring instruments, the process of decomposing M into elementary properties M kk and their measurement with obtaining of sensory information J kk (block I).

According to VI Lenin's thought, this level of sensory reflection, inherent in sensations, is inherent in all (and not only living) matter. At this level, information is recorded on material carriers, which, of course, have a physical nature different from the object being reflected - nerve impulses, etc.

Stages of reflection of reality>

Fig. 1.4. Stages of reflection of reality:

I - a block of measurements (sensations); II - correlator; III - adder; IV - multiplier (C n J × H).

Further, in more or less perfect living organisms that have a central nervous system, as well as in artificial systems that mimic the corresponding functions of living organisms, primary sensory information can be synthesized into a holistic perception - vector J, a process of logical synthesis of the perception vector J (the block II).

The role of the synthesizer in this case is not reduced to a simple arithmetic summation of primary information, but consists in the representation in the form of a single multidimensional information vector J. The process of synthesizing the vector J is carried out in a suitable coordinate system. At this stage it is already appropriate to talk about perception as an ideal product of a synthesizer in the sense that the information vector J, unlike its components, J k, does not have a definite material carrier, but is created by the aggregate interaction of the carriers of its components.

The system-structural representation of J about the object is transferred to the object M. This completes the stage of sensory perception when the real material object is reproduced in our consciousness as an ideal object J, which can be considered a representation about the object.

By the description perception and representation are no different from each other, but the content can be attributed to the difference that perception implies the instantaneous reflection of an existing object at the same time with it, and the representation can be played back in memory, even in the absence of an object, or even reflect fantastic images, which, however, are built according to rules common to perception.

As shown in Fig. 1.4, sensory reflection requires the presence of two formations: measuring block 1 (sense organs) and correlator - block II (synthesizer), although simultaneous, but disparate sensations. The first, but most likely, inherent in all nature, both living and non-living. The second is likely to be unique only to the whole living nature, capable of perceiving as a whole certain objects.

At the next stage (block III), the concept is formed in the form of logical information - the entity H, reflecting our knowledge of the perceived object. The highest form of reflection - consciousness - is exercised by our thinking, the product of which is knowledge. Knowledge, i.e. the essence of the J vector of the sensory information J, acting in the form of a concept, is also information.

The essence of H corresponds to a kind of sense of community of a set of homogeneous phenomena acting in the form of a "thing for us," which corresponds to no particular thing in itself. " This allows the mind to see in the same phenomenon a different essence, depending on the goals that pursue the perception and consideration of this phenomenon. In the formation block I must reflect the logic of the laws of nature, which under different specific conditions is carried out in different ways.

The formulated concepts can be stored in a memory device (you can include a delay block in the diagram of Figure 1.4).

In the block IV in Fig. 1.4 there is a combination of perception information and logical information, which can be represented by a logical intersection, or in the linear approximation - by multiplying.

You can supplement the scheme using information for management or decision making. Then you need to include the N extraction blocks from the memory and the inverse transformation to J ', which then decompose the analyzer into control actions in the form J ' k. It is clear, however, that inverse transformations require special comprehension, because the stored information may become obsolete, the coordinate system, etc. may change.

The discrete representation of the theory helped to introduce deterministic measures considered in the next paragraph.

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