Topics Knowledge

Question Is it theoretically possible to quantify and/or classify all information, regardless of source or form? How about knowledge? In practical terms is there any limitations on our ability to create an Internet of information (knowledge?) containing ALL information (knowledge?) in the human world?

Accepted:
March 20, 2006

Comments

This is really a series of nested questionsthat might be treated separately, so let's see if I can be of some help.

1) Is it theoretically possible to quantifyall information, regardless of source?

Yes. As far as the quantification ofinformation is concerned, there is a well-developed branch of mathematics,called information theory, which deals with the quantification of information.It was founded by Claude Shannon in the late forties and has been refinedsince. See, for a very simple introduction, http://www.lucent.com/minds/infotheory/In the following entry for the Stanford Encyclopedia I provide an overview http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/information-semantic/for beginners.

The important thing to remember is that,when we quantify information, we are really quantifying data, that is, we arenot taking into consideration the meaning, truthfulness, relevance or utilityof the gigabytes we are handling. In other words, when we quantify informationwe are only treating syntactic information (strings of symbols) not semantic(i.e. provided with meaning/interpretation) information.

2) Is it theoretically possible to quantifyall information, regardless of form?

Difficult to say, unless we are clear aboutwhat "form" means. If it means, for example, encoded in digital (e.g.a CD) vs. analogue (e.g. a Vinyl) signals, then yes. If “form” also refers tointuitions, hunches, or experience (how to walk may be seen as a form ofembodied information), then the answer is no. You need an explicit encoding ofinformation in order to quantify it.

3) Is it theoretically possible to classifyall information, regardless of source or form?

Yes, for example you may classify it asanalogue or digital (as above), or useful vs. useless, and so forth. Theseexamples are meant to be a bit disappointing in order to show that the value ofthe classification depends on the goal. If you need to take the train from Oxford to London, allinformation you receive may be classified as useful (e.g. there is a delay) oruseless (e.g. it is raining in Tokyo).

4) How about knowledge?

Here the answer depends on how we analyseknowledge. Most philosophers opt for an analysis in terms of beliefs.Basically, if you know that the train to London leaves at 10.30 am, then thetrain does leave at 10.30 am, you believe that it does and you have some goodreasons to believe (you are not just luckily guessing) that it does. If youadopt this analysis, then, since beliefs are mental states, it is difficult tosay how they are encoded and how they can be quantified precisely, althoughsome efforts, using probabilities, can be made. On the other hand, somephilosophers, including myself, maintain that knowledge is not a special kindof belief, but a special kind of information. For them, it is easier to answerthat yes, insofar as you can quantify and classify information (data), you canalso quantify and classify knowledge.

5) In practical terms is there any limitations on our ability to create anInternet of information (knowledge?) containing ALL information (knowledge?) inthe human world?

In theory no, but in practical terms, yes.An Internet of all information will always lag a step behind, if by it we meana repository. For information will first have to be generated, and thenrecorded in the ultimate database that the Internet, in this context, issupposed to be.

However, imagine a world in which there is no difference between reality andinformation, that is, a world in which everything and anything has aninformational nature. Then in that world there is no longer any differencebetween the information created and the information recorded. A Matrix, butwithout anything behind, would be such world(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix). Something like the world describedin Ghost in the Shell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_shell) wouldcome even closer. And one may read Berkeley as arguingthat all reality is ultimately God’s information.