ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to place information theory into the larger context of society, particularly into the context of society that has been called postcapitalist and postindustrial and is now increasingly referred to by the term information society. It begins with a notion of information that has the dynamic qualities required for understanding structural changes, defines it, places it into alternative paradigms, and elaborates some of its properties. The chapter outlines what might be the three most important indicators of the transition to a form of society in which information seems to be the predominant feature. These are changing patterns of employment, the widespread adoption of a new technology and the emergence of modem corporate structures. Although corporations are clearly kept alive by employing real people, it is the information that is processed in corporate structures, not people that govern the contemporary economy. The corporate use of information processing technology has made corporations the "social brain'' of the emerging information society.
