Information Science

Published 24 March 2009

Science and Scientific Information

Emilia Curras
University Professor
AHDI. Honorary Member 2003. IIS Fellow
Medalla de Oro. Foundation Prof. Kaula
SEI, Honorary Professor

Now that it is clear that science as a whole exerts a decisive influence on each an every step of the information process, we shall return to our earlier line of reasoning in which science was considered an open, complex, evolutionary and cyclic system subject to study under the aspects of systems dynamics and inventics.

Science will influence scientific information by conditioning its flow in and out of a given system. But information will also affect the functioning of the scientific system. The feed back loop needs a sufficient flow to maintain a balance and for an equal flux out of the system to be created. The two types of information – incoming and outgoing- will not be identical. This will imply a lack of activity with side the system, a lack of work or of energy consumption. In other words, there will be scanty elaboration of information received -of raw materials -to produce an output (a product) of useful information. This means the system has died, and there will be no scientific activity- no science.

But science does exist. At least we assume this in light of the new inventions and discoveries that appear almost daily. Science is alive. Our reference system shows evolution, be it discontinuous –in phases or stages that are difficult to foresee.

Science enables us to study the past of mankind and our universe. It helps us, with greater difficulty, understand the present. And we believe it can helps us to foresee the future. Mankind´s greatest hope is to believe in science and through scientific information, to overcome the evils we suffer and to free ourselves from these in the future.

One of the missions of system dynamics and systems engineering is precisely to construct mathematical models with various interrelated variables and parameters to that they give value to each other and their performance is observed. Mathematical calculations are long routine procedures; but the computer has arrived to aid the poor human being and increase his capacity for action. Today, tedious calculations no longer exist.
René Thom´s theory of catastrophes is based on the study of variables and functions of a system in discontinuous evolution, and hence predict those moments in which the system will undergo sharp changes –for example, mutinies and revolutions. Mind you, this cannot always be applied to purely social problems. For example, it will be easy to predict those periods in which there will be vertiginous scientific evolution with many new inventions and discoveries which will imply a transmutation of the system for this to continue working. In terms of cyclic systems, with which we assume science should be grouped, prediction can be made more easily, as the recycling of variables and functions implies a more homogeneous evolution and, despite the existence of information inlets and outlets, the set has a more uniform behaviour.

In times of catastrophe –of sudden change- a functional imbalance is created. This causes a greater liberation of information which has to leave the system for it to return to its normal functioning.

To our way of understanding this is the present situation. Science has undergone a drastic change with respect to its function as a system. This was brought about by the numerous inventions and discoveries of recent times. Consequently, a great deal of information is being released. This information we will term as scientific for reason explained above. This is the information that inundates us and leads to think that we are in an age of informationism, as I suggested in 1982 article. But in fact, information has existed ever since there has been life on the planet Earth.

It is this idea of an epistemology based on informationism that leads us to confuse “Information” with “information technology”. When we refer to the information society or the information industry, we should surely emphasize that it is “the society of information technology” or the “information technology industry”.

Where would mankind go without information? People are naturally sociable. They need similar beings to develop and complete their life programmes: life programmes that contains reciprocal and continuous exchange of information within the context of a system called society. A. I. Mikhailov states in his preface to the book “ Social Aspect of Modern Informatics” that society exists because there is information. It is true that without information, society as such would not exist, for related ways of life imply interaction between elements that have collected in some form of association, it is therefore impossible to imagine interrelation without communication, or without information.

It is precisely due to the desire to exchange information that the need to know and make known arose –that is, knowledge, research, reaching out for science. Socrates said that the virtue exist in learning. Let us hope that our future learning based on information, will lead us to the good and to more well- being and will eliminate the evils of our time.

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