Order and Chaos

I found the Chaos Theory to be the most interesting thing in Tuesday night’s class. The chaos theory says that order emerges out of chaos. I found this interesting because when I think of order, the first things that come to mind are stability and instruction, not chaos. However without chaos, order would never be needed, therefore order must emerge from chaos. I also find it fascinating that this new set of ideas puts information in the middle between order and entropy. Another thing that was different about this class was the discussion of memes. Memes are like genes, self-replicators that reproduce themselves. In all this idea says that ideas can be self-replicated. This also links to the saying “going viral”, or in other words, multiple views spreading. Furthermore, Fractal Mathematics was also interesting. It allows for computer graphics to make something life like. This was shown with the Mandelbrot Set, which was the same pattern small and big on each level being repeated. This is the perfect example of order emerging from chaos. Lastly, we also discussed the Butterfly Effect. The Butterfly Effect creates a feedback loop in the atmosphere, which is needed for order.

History of Communication Part II, etc.

In Monday's class lecture, we finished the history of communication, from the invention of the telegraph in 1844 to the first use of the satellite in 1957. Other inventions that came later were the fax machine and data transmission. All of the technologies converged to create new media.

We also discussed the beginning of the information age, and Claude Shannon's information theory. Shannon maintained that energy, not matter, is the fundamental "stuff" of the universe. He ultimately defined information as "what is needed to reduce uncertainty." Information also reduces chaos and entropy and creates order. We also discussed sender/receiver/feedback loops, which creates a circuit. The negative feedback limits what information survives.

I thought it was interesting to learn that information is different from knowledge. I always thought they were the same thing, but they really go hand in hand, along with wisdom.

Response to Lecture: Information

During this lecture, the class commenced with a continuation of the history of communication. However, the lecture was mainly centered on the topic of information. Prof. Strate defined information as, "what is needed to reduce uncertainty." I think this definition possesses a somewhat philosophical nature. It made me question whether something can really be classified as information. According to the given definition, only new knowledge is truly considered as information. Furthermore, we discussed Claude Shannon and his Information Theory that involves the quantification of information. Entropy, the opposite of order and organization, is a way to measure information. It entails the randomness that exists, the different possibilities that can occur. Another interesting topic that was explained in class was the bit, a binary contraction of digits. They are basic units of information consisting of 1s and 0s that are used in computer data bases and kind of reminds me of The Matrix. In coherence to our discussion about Claude Shannon, we were also taught about his work, "The Mathematical Theory of Communication" where Shannon lays out the basic components of communication, which he considers the paradigm of communication with a scientific basis. Towards the conclusion of the class, Norbert Wiener is brought into discussion with talk about cybernetiks, the science of control. Wiener places great importance on the notion of the feedback loop. With the feedback loop, one can attain the key to control. The feedback loop also serves as the building blocks to the interactive technology that is present today.