The Origin of Classical and Quantum Information

Dear Colleagues,

For many scientists, the topic of information eludes definition and explanation. In spite of this, the consensus is to postulate information as one of three fundamental elements in the universe, besides matter and/or energy. Typical of this approach is the statement by Norbert Wiener that “Information is information, not matter or energy. No materialism which does not admit this can survive at the present day”. Wiener describes information in terms of itself and emphasizes a postulate that has no basis in fact. This widely held but unfounded perspective can be summarized as “it from bit”. Also, there is a tendency of most researchers to postulate the existence of information as a mysterious quantity that is to be found everywhere in our environment, except that it is difficult to describe, and no identifiable sense organs seem to detect it. Yet, the notion that information can be identified gives credence to the colloquial expression “I know it when I see it.”

This Special Issue, alternatively, emphasizes that information is paramount to the functioning of the human-organism-in-its-environment, noting that an etymological perspective ties information to giving shape to matter and using communication as the means to shape the minds of other individuals. Also, Gregory Bateson’s definition of information as ‘a difference which makes a difference’ makes for the possibility that sensorial signals may be identified by our sense organs and internally transformed into semantic information. Indeed, both perspectives coincide in promoting a naturalized and dynamic view of information. They promote the view that information is a means to describe change in matter and/or energy, and that humans have an individuated role to play in acting to promote and observe that change. This approach allows observation of our surroundings in our daily lives while engaging in recursive interactions to satisfy or physiological and/or relational needs.

The content of the proposed Special Issue is organized around two main themes. The first theme focuses on identifying other ways to look at classical and quantum information without relying on its preexistence in the Universe/environment, while the second theme focuses on the implications for humans-in-their-environment of such a perspective on a variety of topics in biology, artificial intelligence, computation, etc. The goal is to promote looking at information anew so as to revitalize its meaning and assess its limits and range of applications.

This Special Issue aims to bring together an interdisciplinary approach, focusing on information and applications with a naturalized perspective and impact. Therefore, this Special Issue is completely open to anyone who wants to submit a relevant research manuscript.

All submitted papers will undergo the standard peer-review procedure. Accepted papers will be published in open-access format in Information and collected on the website of this Special Issue.

Dr. Jaime F. Cardenas-Garcia
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Information is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• classical information
• quantum information
• infoautopoiesis
• syntactic information
• semantic information
• artificial intelligence
• computation