INFORMATION AS A MANIFESTATION OF THE DYNAMICS OF SYSTEMS

摘要

Although evident, the ubiquity of information, the multitude of forms it takes, and the crucial role it plays in the realization, integration, and coordination of behavior in natural and artificial systems, are all difficult to explain in an all-embracing, consistent manner. Particularly difficult, for example, is to unify theories of cognition and self-organization with those of the creation of meaning and signification (Brier, 1999). The notion of information as a manifestation of the dynamics of systems offers a uniform perspective for the study of information and information-processing related phenomena. In this paper it is shown that, despite the differences involved, this uniform perspective helps to identify and analyze features of information processing that are common to the various levels and types of information processing in biological, human, and social systems such as organizations. Moreover, this can be done with due regard to features that are specific to particular levels or types of information processing.