ABSTRACT
When we manipulate physical systems for various purposes, we are essentially encoding and decoding the information content in those systems in precisely defined terms tailored to our purpose. Conversationally speaking of information, one thinks of the “new knowledge” gained when a particular physical process is completed, such as watching television, reading an article, or measuring the output voltage at the end of a circuit. When we get used to the idea that information is not something abstract that is a result of cognition, but is actually physically carried by the system that’s being observed or measured, we are closer to a scientific understanding of information.
