Untangling the Web of Technical Knowledge A Model of Information Content and Structure Page: 4 of 9
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important from trivial, used from neglected, etc. Using the model should make it easier
to make these distinctions, but they are not specifically addressed. The focus is on the
nature and structure of content, not its quality or utility.)
The power of these definitions derives from the fact that expressing a proposition is in a
way a very simple act. Indeed, I argue below that any such act can be considered as
consisting of just three basic elements. Understanding these elements leads us to a
new understanding of information content, as well as to the discovery of a rich world of
information structures that underlies all bodies of information.
III. The three basic elements of information content
From the point of view of mathematical logic, any body of expressed propositions is
made up of the following three basic elements:
Element 1. The physical context of the expression.
For type 1 this is typically who said or wrote what, including the actual language used,
when, where, etc. For type 2 devices this will include actual displays, printouts, etc. For
type 3 non-symbolic expressions it is the facts about the video, etc.
In other words, according to our three definitions information is always a tangible thing
created by a specific act of expression at a specific time and place. It may be sounds,
marks on paper, a dial reading, a video, even an action, but it is always tangible. Thus
on this view information content is never an intangible something in someone's head.
The latter may be knowledge or belief, but it is not information. We are therefore talking
about something that always has a physical aspect.
Note too that information content has to be expressed. Thus simply seeing that a tree is
in the road, an act of perception, does not involve information content. This is a
significant restriction, because we sometimes use the word information to refer to
perception, or even to physical causality. Those uses are excluded from this model.
Element 2. The propositions expressed.
The propositions expressed are the actual, meaningful content of the information. In
writing and speaking it is what our sentences say, independent of which language is
being used. Propositions are whole thoughts, not phrases or words.
In mathematical logic there are techniques for taking sentences and identifying the
propositions expressed. If a piece of type 1 writing or speaking is translated into
symbolic logic we can even say precisely how many atomic propositions are expressed.
That is, we can measure the information content. Doing this for types 2 or 3 may be
more problematic.
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Wojick, D. (IIA). Untangling the Web of Technical Knowledge A Model of Information Content and Structure, report, October 1, 2010; United States. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1015302/m1/4/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.