Information theory is the science of understanding the “plumbing” of communication. It ensures a message flows from point A to point B with minimal leakage or distortion. However, information theory isn’t focused on the content of what’s flowing—it deals with how information is transmitted and preserved, not what the message says. Other than considerations like whether data needs to be repeated for clarity, it doesn’t concern itself with whether the content is in English, TV signals, or digital data. It does focus on things like data compression, error detection, and security.
Imagine you’re trying to send a message across a noisy room. How do you ensure it’s clear and accurate? That’s where information theory comes in. It’s about encoding information efficiently, so it takes up the least space, and decoding it reliably, even when there’s interference or errors along the way.
Now author prerogative allows authors to use a term like “information theory” as a literary anchor device. For example, Yuval Noah Harari uses the term “information theory” more broadly than its traditional, technical definition. In his work, particularly in Nexus, Harari explores information in the context of how it shapes civilizations, cultures, and power structures.
From my viewpoint within the TST Framework, particularly under the tool of Reasoning, information theory is a key component. It delves into how we quantify information, deal with uncertainty, and ensure clear communication. Developed by Claude Shannon, it introduces concepts like entropy, which measures the unpredictability or surprise within a set of data.