Information Philosophy

James Gleick, the author of the best sellers Chaos and Genius, now brings us a work just as astonishing and masterly: a revelatory chronicle and meditation that shows how information has become the modern era’s defining quality—the blood, the fuel, the vital principle of our world. The...

Entropy is one of the most profound and misunderstood concepts in modern science — at once a physical quantity, a measure of uncertainty, and a metaphor for the passage of time itself. Entropy: The Order of Disorder explores this concept in its full philosophical and scientific depth, tracing its evolution from the thermodynamics of Clausius and Boltzmann to the cosmology of the expanding universe, the information theory of Shannon, and the paradoxes of quantum mechanics.

What is economic growth? And why, historically, has it occurred in only a few places? Previous efforts to answer these questions have focused on institutions, geography, finances, and psychology. But according to MIT's anti-disciplinarian César Hidalgo, understanding the nature of economic growth demands transcending the social sciences and including the natural sciences of information, networks, and complexity. To understand the growth of economies, Hidalgo argues, we first need to understand the growth of order.

If you are a beginner or seasoned professional in Information Technology this book explains the syntax and semantics of data model design. Models, Metaphor and Meaning looks at data modeling for information systems from the perspective of information theory, linguistics and semiotics in order to explain how models convey meaning. The book starts with a critique of William Kent’s classic Data and Reality and builds on contemporary themes in psycho-linguistics regarding metaphor as a key to our conceptual thinking. The book reviews Shannon’s Information Theory and analyzes the differences...

Behind the familiar surfaces of the telephone, radio, and television lies a sophisticated and intriguing body of knowledge known as information theory. This is the theory that has permitted the rapid development of all sorts of communication, from color television to the clear transmission of photographs from the vicinity of Jupiter. Even more revolutionary progress is expected in the future.

People are now exposed to more information than ever before, provided both by technology and by increasing access to every level of education. These societal gains, however, have also helped fuel a surge in narcissistic and misguided intellectual egalitarianism that has crippled informed debates on any number of issues. Today, everyone knows everything and all voices demand to be taken with equal seriousness, and any claim to the contrary is dismissed as undemocratic elitism.

In a world where there is so much conflicting information about how we are supposed to live, what can we really know? Knowing the truth, what’s real from what’s fake, should be easy. In today’s world, that’s far from the case. In The Certainty Illusion, Timothy Caulfield lifts the...

Governments pay her. Criminals fear her. Nobody sees her coming. Vanessa “Michael” Munroe deals in information—expensive information—working for corporations, heads of state, private clients, and anyone else who can pay for her unique brand of expertise. Born to missionary parents in...

On December 16, 1947, two physicists at Bell Laboratories, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, jabbed two electrodes into a sliver of germanium half an inch long. The electrical power coming out of that piece of germanium was 100 times stronger than what went in. In that moment, the transistor was invented and the information age began. Crystal Fire recounts the story of the transistor team at Bell Labs, led by William Shockley, who shared the Nobel Prize with Bardeen and Brattain.

Some ideas are dangerous. This one is a weapon. Leo Harding, a hobbyist coder and logic puzzle enthusiast, discovers a post on a fringe philosophy forum about a thought experiment: a future superintelligent AI that will retroactively punish those who knew of its potential but did nothing to help create it. The idea is a fascinating piece of philosophical horror, a "logic bomb" that weaponizes game theory. But when the post and all traces of it are professionally scrubbed from the internet in real-time, Leo's fascination turns to fear. An impossible email, sent from inside his own computer, ...

Fascinated by the mysterious power of human intention to make things happen? Discover its real-world applications by exploring the breakthrough research of psycho-energetic science. Does the physics of consciousness have you scratching your head? Want to know how being intentional can improve your life? Ever wondered where science and spirituality intersect?

Step into the mind of the machine as AI provides thought-provoking insights for humanity's uncertain future. How intelligent has AI become? In the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) just beginning, where machines can ponder the most profound philosophical queries and offer insights born from vast troves of knowledge, AI will become a partner in our quest for understanding, a tool that amplifies our capacity for exploration and discovery. We stand at the cusp of revolutionary new breakthroughs in every field, as well as a point where we must be cautious of the dangers that AI poses to our ...

📘 The Life of Empires: When Belief Fades, Greatness Crumbles By HASE Fiero Empires don’t fall when their borders are breached. They fall when their people stop believing. The Life of Empires is a sweeping philosophical exploration and cultural autopsy—an unflinching account of how history’s greatest civilizations rose through shared conviction and collapsed when those beliefs crumbled from within. From Rome to the Soviet Union, from colonial giants to modern America, HASE Fiero unpacks a haunting thesis: power without belief is brittle, and progress without trust is an illusion. ...

In our increasingly digital world, most of us are overwhelmed by the constant inflow of data, files, notes, and random bits of inspiration. But what if there was a simple, proven solution to tame the chaos? You'll learn a step-by-step approach for constructing your very own "second brain"—a pragmatic method that requires no fancy apps or proprietary tools.

During the final three years of the Obama administration, Richard Stengel, the former editor of Time magazine and an Under Secretary of State, was the single person in government tasked with unpacking, disproving, and combating both ISIS's messaging and Russian disinformation. Then, in 2016, as the presidential election unfolded, Stengel watched as Donald Trump used disinformation himself, weaponizing the grievances of Americans who felt overlooked. In fact, Stengel quickly came to see how all three players had used the same playbook: ISIS sought to make Islam great again....

This exhilarating collection of essays, interviews, and correspondence—spanning the years 1988 through 2018, and reaching back a decade more—is about the simple concept that ideas matter. They mutate, inform, create fuel for thought, and inspire actions. As Kelman says, the State relies on our suffocation, that we cannot hope to learn the truth. But whether we can or not is beside the point. We must grasp the nettle, we assume control and go forward.

Here's how you can weather the storm and start thinking clearly! Let's see the facts. Your mind is under siege. Every single day, you are bombarded with thousands of news stories, hundreds of fake news articles, secret agendas, and bad science. You need to develop a defense mechanism that will allow you to hold your ground and improve your life. And the name of that defense mechanism? Critical thinking! This is a simple, easy-to-follow, critical thinking science guide that will change the way you perceive your world and react to it.

Dive into the captivating depths of "Information Paradox," a journey through the enigmatic realm of black holes and their place in our universe. This compelling eBook unravels the mysteries surrounding these cosmic giants, posing questions and offering insights that challenge our very understanding of reality. Begin your exploration with the rich history and evolution of black hole theory. Discover how the realms of physics and philosophy intersect to challenge our perception of the universe. Delve into the anatomy of black holes, from the event horizon's precipice to the singularity’s ...

Here is a visionary analysis of how the politics of fear, secrecy, cronyism, and blind faith have combined with the public sphere's degradation to create an environment dangerously hostile to reason. Never has there been a worse time for us to lose the capacity to face the reality of our long-term challenges, from national security to the economy, from issues of health and social welfare to the environment. As The Assault on Reason explains, we have precious little time to waste.

If you want to discover the captivating history of the Cambridge Five, then pay attention.... During the poverty-stricken years of the Great Depression, when Britain’s financial markets plummeted and the poor and wealthy alike doubted the economic systems in which they participated, the potential of one political ideal shone like no other: Communism. Young intellectuals from the country’s very best schools discussed the premise of labor-value versus wealth-value, and a great many of them became card-carrying members of the Communist Party in Britain.