What is Information? Toward a Theory of Information as Objective and Veridical

Abstract

Information systems are a strong and ever-growing discipline of enormous relevance to today’s informated world, and yet, as recent reviews have shown, there is still not an agreed and explicit conceptualization or definition of information. After an evaluative review of a range of theories of information, this paper develops and defends a particular theory, one that sees information as both objective and veridical. By objective, we mean that the information carried by signs and messages exists independently of its receivers or observers. The information carried by a sign exists even if the sign is not actually observed. By veridical, we mean that information must be true or correct in order to be information – information is truth-constituted. False information is not information, but misinformation or disinformation. The paper develops this theory and then discusses four contentious issues – information as objective rather than subjective; information as true or correct; information and knowledge; and information and the ambiguity of meaning. It concludes with a discussion of the practical implications of the theory

Is there an information age in the whole developmental stages of the substance civilization of human society?

“…There are a lot of papers and books to discuss such issue in the literatures. First, a typical example (Mingers and Standing, 2017) is discussed, and then several reports are selected for description to make more details for understanding. However, we don't want to mention all or most of them because it is not the task of the paper.…”

“…We mentioned that that paper is a typical example (Mingers and Standing, 2017) because it published in the very recent year (2017) and its title is"What is information? Toward a theory of information as objective and veridical".…”

Philosophy and information systems: where are we and where should we go?

“…question is legend. Except for several notable exceptions (Aakhus, Ågerfalk, Lyytinen, & Te'eni, 2014;Mason & Mitroff, 1973;Mingers & Standing, 2017;Schwartz, 2011), such a path is not taken by mainstream IS research. Most research in IS will either begin with qualities and characteristics of objects of study already laid out by other disciplines, with very little contemplation of the metaphysics of "information" or of "system".…”

“…What is technology? As a field, we are still working on the answers to these questions (Boell, 2017;Lee, 2010;McKinney & Yoos, 2010;Mingers, 1995;Mingers & Standing, 2017). Answers to these questions on the philosophy of information (Floridi, 2002(Floridi, , 2011 and technology (Feenberg, 1991(Feenberg, , 2010bIhde, 1990Ihde, , 1993 are being provided by scholars outside of IS.…”

The Temporal Epistemic Anomaly

“…information is contained in physical systems (Landauer 1996, p.188;Karnani et al 2009Karnani et al , p.2157. No attempt will be made to define 'information' as this is beyond the scope of the current article (see the comprehensive discussions in: Lombardi 2004;Zins 2007;Karnani et al 2009;Floridi 2011;and Mingers & Standing 2018). Instead, 'information' will be taken as implicitly understood.…”