[Sigia-l] data as information?

[Eric Scheid]

On 30/6/05 1:10 PM, "Dan Saffer" <dan at odannyboy.com> wrote:

> The creation of meaning is done outside the data, by some sort of
> intelligence that can turn data into information. Only by making data
> (or more precisely, multiple datum) into information ("The population
> of New York City is 6,000,000") can we seen the relationship between
> datum (ie New York City and 6,000,000).

I agree.

Here is some noise: 4638
Here is a datum: 3778

What makes the second item a datum is that it is in fact the number of hot
meals since I last had porridge for breakfast (hah, fact check that!).  Now,
while providing that context (me, meals, porridge, etc) has transformed that
datum into information, the raw data point (ie. 3778) is still a raw data
point.

The first item I can't say anything about. It's just a number, it's just
noise. Do they "appear" the same? Yes. Get over it. I don't recall anyone
saying that the difference between a noise item and a data item would be
intrinsically self evident.

By coincidence it is the same number for some other data point I know about.
So, while the representations "4638" is the same as the the representation
"4638", what they represent are not the same. One is noise, the other is the
number of emails in some folder somewhere.

e.