What is Information? Simplest Answer

[ThomasT]

im not sure that's any better. just because 200 years ago we could not "point to" or manipulate say cooper pairs or atoms, doesn't mean they don't exist and don't have an effect.

You can point to what you mean by cooper pairs or atoms or photons or electrons. All of these terms have real physical referents. Wrt some terms in fundamental physics there are only formal referents. Wrt some terms there are real physical instrumental referents.

But information is just data. That is, information refers to recorded and manipulable, interpretable, instrumental results. Just my two cents.

 

[dm4b]

At the risk of being controversial, I'll just say that until we fully understand consciousness, we will not fully understand what information is, either. I'm thinking of specific potential traits to consciousness that seem to allow the non-local exchange of "information". I'll go ahead and say the "dirty" words - psychic ability.

You can argue all you want there is no valid evidence it is a reality, but that is in no way decidedly true at this point.

Some noted physicsts like Michio Kaku have recently said an open mind is needed based on results from current laboratory testing. Even Carl Sagan, who said he doubted positive test results in the end, still thought it was worthy of investigation:

"At the time of this writing there are three claims in the ESP field which, in my opinion, deserve serious study: (1) that by thought alone humans can effect random number generators in computers; (2) that people under mild sensory deprivation can receive thoughts or images projected at them; (3) that young children sometimes report the details of a previous life, which upon checking turn out to be accurate and which they could not have known about in any other way than reincarnation."

Based on current findings, psychic ability, or information exchange via consciousness, appears to be non-local, and does not seem to favor a preferred direction in time.

If any of this turns out to be decidedly factual, it adds a whole 'nother dimension to the question, "what is information?". Ignoring it won't make it go away either.

 

[Maui]

What is information (in the simplest terms you can think of)?

Neurons humming in a highly specific pattern:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mind/media/elec_chat.html