Fundamentals of Bioinformatics - Oogurtsov A.N. 2013

Foundations of Bioinformatics
The Concept of "Information"
Definition of the Concept of "Information"

The word "information" originates from the Latin "informatio", meaning explanation, presentation, acquaintance, or conception. It stands as one of the most general scientific concepts, denoting certain pieces of information, a collection of data, knowledge, and the like.

Recently, it has become clear that information plays a fundamental role in science. This has sparked a pressing need to understand: what exactly is it?

Attempts to link information with the familiar concepts of matter or energy have failed. Norbert Wiener (1894–1964), the founding father of cybernetics and artificial intelligence theory, asserted that "information is information, not matter or energy," thereby emphasizing the immaterial origin of information.

Attempts to connect information with Entropy have likewise proven unsuccessful, though such efforts continue to this day. Consequently, the question of defining "information" remains open.

In the humanities, Structure/97.html">Definitions such as "information is data..." (or messages, knowledge, etc.) are widely popular. For example:

✵ "information is knowledge transmitted by someone else or acquired through one's own research or study";

✵ "information is data contained in a given message and viewed as an object of transmission, storage, and Processing."

In effect, one word is simply substituted for another, rendering such renaming essentially tautological.

Sometimes information is associated with orderliness; for instance: "information means order, communication is the creation of order out of disorder or, at least, the increase of the degree of order that existed prior to receiving the message."

Among philosophers, definitions featuring the term "reflection" are common, though they are equally unproductive:

✵ "information is the reflection in human consciousness of objective causal relationships in the real world around us";

✵ "information is the content of reflection processes."

A special place in the collection of definitions is held by assertions that information is an algorithm or an instruction, such as:

✵ "information is a certain algorithm" or

✵ "we shall call information the set of techniques, rules, or data necessary to construct an operator."

The simultaneous existence of numerous similar and dissimilar definitions of "information" indicates that a universally accepted definition does not yet exist. Moreover, there is still no clear understanding of The Essence of this phenomenon, despite an urgent need for one.

The most adequate definition of "information" for biological Applications is as follows:

✵ information is the remembered Selection of one option from several possible and equivalent alternatives.

A remembered selection is also referred to as macroinformation. If information is generated but not remembered, it is called microinformation.

Hereafter, by information we will mean exclusively remembered information and will omit the prefix "macro".

The phrase "possible and equivalent alternatives" in the definition means that the choices belong to the same set and the a priori differences between them are minor. Ideally, the options may be fully equivalent and equally probable, but they can also differ. In this case, "equivalent" means that the a priori probabilities of the various choices are of the same order of magnitude.

Let us cite another quotation from N. Wiener: "Information is a designation of the content fetched from the outer world in The process of our adapting to it, and of our sensing of it. The process of receiving and of using information is the process of our adjusting to the contingencies of the environment and of our living effectively within that environment. The needs and complexities of modern life make greater demands on this process of information than ever before, and our press, our museums, our scientific laboratories, our universities, our libraries and textbooks, are headers out on the road to this process, to fail in which is to fail to meet the demands of life. To live effectively is to live with adequate information. Thus, communication and control belong to the inner life of man, even as they belong to his life in society."

It is characteristic that N. Wiener classifies "information" as a category of processes, which implies that the specific method by which the given information was obtained is critically important.