[Sigia-l] data as information?

[Listera]

Eric Scheid:
> Here is an example of an animal: cat

I see letters "c," "a" and "t". Is this supposed to be "data"? Is "Cat is an
animal" supposed to be data? I have no idea what you're referring to here.
 
> Does that mean that 'cat' is the atomic unit, that there is no broader
> classification (eg. 'mammal'), of which 'cat' is one instance with a
> specific contextualisation?

No idea.

> Well, appearances can be deceiving. If what you perceive leads to confusion
> then perhaps you should reconsider your initial interpretation.

Please, don't get ahead of yourself.
 
> Secondly, just because data might be defined as "the evidence of a
> relationship between two things" does not require that those "two things" be
> self-evident from the data.

How so?

> Thus "4638" while it *appears* to be a string of 4 random digits (ie. noise),
> it could also be a data item (you just don't know what it relates to yet).

If it is NOT an "evidence of a relationship between two things" (as
obviously it is not the way you presented it) then it cannot be data.

So what are you saying?

Ziya
Nullius in Verba