Applied information is more difficult to change than similar information which is not yet applied. The more information is applied, the more it becomes difficult to change it. We call this effect the "induration of information". The evident reason for this is that to change the information, or we would have to change all applications, or the information would be contradicted each time it attempts to map upon an existing application.
In this chapter we studie this `induration' from several points of view.
The effect of strenthening is mutual between the abstract information and the application. Besides the fact that the abstract information becomes stronger when it is applied, the application becomes also stronger when the abstract components becomes stronger. Therefore each application of information can be considered as a cooperation between the abstract elements and the instantiation. In this cooperation, both the abstract and the concrete information help to maintain each other and protect each other against changes.
Instantiations are more stable when they are based upon indurated, strong information elements. The same instantiations help to make the abstract information stronger. This effect makes that strong information tend to become stronger all the time\footnote{\dag}{This is of course not an absolute thruth, see...}.
Information which is embedded deeply in complex structures appears to be `unchangeable' at our scale of time and energy. Such information seems to be a part of Nature, an it can be applied with predictable result.
Very stable information is called "a law of Nature". The science of Physics studies such laws. Conservative scientists hate laws that are not stable. They think they are "wrong", and turn their head away because those things disturb them in "their" work.
Once a mapping is started between stable abstract information and a straight-forward application of it, the other elements of the mapping fall in place without any doubt. The mapping closes like a zipper. Every next step is anticipated exactly at both sides and the coherence is almost perfect.
Once the closing of such zipper has started, the continuation of the instantiation of the mapping is not considered as an event, but as a natural consequence.
Once one drops an object, the continuation of the falling is not considered as an event, but as a natural consequence.
A contradiction is an information structure that initiates chains of instantiation that leads to partial instantiation of an element as such that a mapping of one element conflicts with a very indurated opposition.
It's like a zipper that closes smoothly, but has an odd number of elements at the end. The error shows only after a series of smooth mappings so that the origin of the problem is not in focus when arriving to the problem.
An information being which succeeds to express itself frequently becomes stronger. This effect is called induration.
Before investigating the physical laws underlying this mechanism, I'd like to confirm the intuitive notion of induration by a few examples.
When a philosophy solves a lot of problems, it will be memorized as something useful. The more it is applied, the stronger it becomes. As the philosophy becomes stronger, it will spread wider and attempts will be made to apply it to other fields of application. By this it acquires a lot of experience and it becomes very difficult to contradict the philosophy.
Introducing a new technique is difficult. It requires a lot of energy to convince people, to prove the technique works always, etc. Once the technique is in use, all applications are available as examples to convince people of the usefulness. It has been tested in a wide application area and solutions for related problems are already available (so called experience of the information).
When doing a complex movement for the first time, it is difficult and slow, we have to keep our full attention to it and it is hard to perform. When we do the same movement frequently, it gradually becomes easier and it goes faster. At first, each repetition of the movement was slightly different but finally, the movement is smooth and each time exactly the same.
First usage of a new technique is also difficult because there are no associated tools available to support the application of the technique in practical cases. As the technique becomes frequently used, special tools are developed to apply it in different circumstances. The existence of these tools facilitates largely the application of the technique and by this facilitates the propagation of the new technique.
The tools are a kind of interface between the abstract technique and the environment. They become part of the mapping.
When a lot of tools for a stable technique exist, it has become difficult to change the technique because the tools are not adapted for the modified technique.
When a new abstract notion is put forward, it is cumbersome to explain it and the notion is still vague. When the new notion is useful and is used frequently, the notion will stabilize, all applications of it can be used as examples to explain it, it will receive a name and finally the complex abstract notion can be referenced by just one word. At this point it has become very difficult to change the notion because the modified notion will not correspond with the applications of the older notion, the old applications cannot longer be used as examples etc.
Changing any form of behavior requires a lot of energy because some conservative forces must be overruled.
Some information elements are stronger than others. This shows up when two information elements interact. It happens that an interaction between information elements causes a drastic change of one element while the other is almost not affected.
It requires more energy to change a stable information element than it requires to change a weak information element.
The process of becoming strong of an information element, we call induration.
Induration is obtained by packing energy in the structure of the information element. The more energy packed in the information element, the heavier it becomes, the more energy it has to act and the more difficult it is to change the information.
Complex information elements have many aspects. Each of these aspects can have a different induration. The energy required to change an aspect depends on the induration of the aspect in the complex information structure rather than to the total induration of the structure.
Information must interact with other information to indurate. Insulation reduces the intensity of interaction with the environment. Insulated information cannot indurate.
A new philosophy can never become strong without being applied under many different circumstances.
A new technique can never become strong without being applied.
Interaction of two elements of information will always affect both of them. Even when the interaction takes place between a strong element and a weak element, the strong element will be affected less but still there will be some effect.
To indurate, information must interact with other information in the environment. However, information does not always gain by an interaction with the environment. When the information is not adapted to the environment, it will suffer from each failing attempt to manifest itself.
The nature of this effect of the environment is discussed in chapter 26 on energy.
More in next chapter on Insulation
This is Chapter 7; Induration of information of Behavior
of Information
Author: Luc
Claeys. All comments welcome, mail to lcl at this site:
nanohome.be
Last updated on Nov 12, 1997