Re: [Leica] paperless2 ???

["Anthony Atkielski" <anthony@atkielski.com>]

From: TSL <eno22@enter.net>
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 1999 10:11
Subject: RE: [Leica] paperless2 ???


> No.  You start here on the wrong foot.

I didn't invent information theory.

> If it represents a tree it is a "symbolic representation"
> of the tree.

If it is a symbol, yes.  If it is a model, no.

> You have the impossible capability of going beyond
> words so as to say what is a symbol and what is being
> symbolized?

Absolutely.  _Everyone_ does that.

> That would mean that you need to "see" the tree
> and that's real.

That's right.

Nobody looks at the word "tree" and knows what it means without prior
instruction.  People look at the word and visualize a tree because they have
learned to associate the symbol (the word "tree") with the object it symbolizes
(a real tree).

In contrast, a person can look at a painting of a tree and see a tree without
knowing anything about trees in advance.  That is because a painting actually
models a tree, it doesn't just symbolically represent one.

> The painting represents information by way of a "physical"
> model of that information.

Yes.

> What is the difference between physical representation and
> digital or written information?

A digital representation is symbolic; it is not a model.  You can only
understand a digital representation by referencing a common concordance between
the symbols used and their canonical meanings.

> If they are symbolic then by definition they are not "the
> something itself".

Right.

> Not necessarily. These are symbolic manifestations of
> numbers in the same way that 3,4 are.

No, they are not.  You actually measure the length of the lines to get the
values they represent.  You don't have to know anything about the numbers to
begin with.  And any inaccuracy in the length of the lines or your measurement
will corrupt the information they are intended to communicate.

> What is it exactly that the drawn circle is representing?

A circle.  But since you cannot draw a perfect circle, the representation is
always slightly corrupt.

> The mathematics are describing the representation?

The mathematics allow you to create an identical circle of your own.  Zero loss.
A digital representation.

  -- Anthony