Information theory is wrong.
Its assumptions are erroneous.
Why?
Because it confuses information, with knowledge.
Information is not knowledge. They are two very different things.
Sending a bit through a noisy channel is worthless, unless both parties know in advance what the bit means.
According to information theory, if 1000 bits are transmitted and the value of each of these bits is know to both the sender and receiver ahead of time with certainty, no information has been transmitted.
A claim which was made by Shannon and is regurgitated here:
However this is obviously false! Information HAS been transmitted. That much is self evident. What they're really trying to say is that no KNOWLEDGE has been added to the receiver because of the transmission.
If someone (say, an editor) knows the contents of a newspaper ahead of publishing time, is any information transmitted at publication? Of course it is!
If a grifter knows the outcome of a horse race before it happens, is any information transmitted when the result is posted? Of course it is!
Information theory is wrong. It's incomplete. And it has an erroneous description of what constitutes information.
Its assumptions are erroneous.
Why?
Because it confuses information, with knowledge.
Information is not knowledge. They are two very different things.
Sending a bit through a noisy channel is worthless, unless both parties know in advance what the bit means.
According to information theory, if 1000 bits are transmitted and the value of each of these bits is know to both the sender and receiver ahead of time with certainty, no information has been transmitted.
A claim which was made by Shannon and is regurgitated here:
Information theory - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
However this is obviously false! Information HAS been transmitted. That much is self evident. What they're really trying to say is that no KNOWLEDGE has been added to the receiver because of the transmission.
If someone (say, an editor) knows the contents of a newspaper ahead of publishing time, is any information transmitted at publication? Of course it is!
If a grifter knows the outcome of a horse race before it happens, is any information transmitted when the result is posted? Of course it is!
Information theory is wrong. It's incomplete. And it has an erroneous description of what constitutes information.