5th draft “EE information theory” Hideya Inoue (management structure analysis consultant)
EE information theory is a theory about information structure and factual knowledge (acquired by humans). Factual knowledge generated from factual information in organizational management contains important content that influences the way management is conducted, so this theory is the starting point of this book. The core concept of the theory is semiotics, and the theory is constructed using three frameworks: the semiotic triangle (concept of information), the semiotic ladder (information structure), and the semiotic mill (generation of fact types).
When humans communicate, the subject’s ‘thoughts’ about some object are conveyed as information through ‘symbols’, and the interrelationship between them can be displayed as a triangle with the vertices being ‘referent (object)’, ‘thoughts’, and ‘symbols’. This triangle is called the semiotic triangle. In this case, information is a means for sharing ‘thoughts’ in the minds of humans, and it shows that the content (‘thoughts’) and form (‘symbols’) of information are always in pairs (combinations of two). This pair is the basic form of information structure.
If we further subdivide the basic form of information structure, ‘ideas’ correspond to semantics and pragmatics, and ‘symbols’ correspond to syntax and empiricism. Furthermore, if we consider that ‘ideas’ (especially intentions) affect the ‘social world’ that governs commitments, the information structure becomes a ladder-like structure. This structure is called the semiotic ladder. Humans’ ability to handle syntax and empiricism is called ‘forma’, their ability to handle semantics and pragmatics is called ‘informa’, and their ability to carry out commitments in the social world is called ‘performa’.
When humans recognize (perceive and conceptualize) the information that concrete objects possess, the mind recognizes the characteristics as types and generates factual knowledge. The semiotic mill is a representation of the framework of this process modeled after a flour mill. Types are templates when recognizing concrete objects. Objects are abstracted and classified by type. Types are a fundamental concept for understanding type declarations in programming, their derivations (specialization, generalization, aggregation), and the relationship between classes and instances.
Factual knowledge generated using types is an important management resource used in all aspects of organizational activities. Factual knowledge needs to be formalized, for example using a DEMO specification language, so that it can be processed by computers.
Programmers who have not fully studied the information theory that underlies programming languages should definitely study this theory to strengthen their thinking and creativity. Managers who have weathered rough seas with experience, intuition, and courage should also use this theory to logically reorganize factual knowledge about their business in order to make themselves more persuasive.
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