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Weak Signal® Research
Glossary of Terms
January 16, 1997
Associator
"The subsystem which carries out the first stage of the learning
process forming enduring associations among items of information in the
system." (Miller) The Associator is the model builder of the system
and the most active player in the 'Spoze
model.
Channel and Net
"The subsystem composed of a single route in physical space, or multiple
interconnected routes, by which markers bearing information are transmitted
to all parts of the system." (Miller)
Decider
"The executive subsystem which receives information inputs from all
other subsystems and transmits to them information outputs that control
the entire system." (Miller)
Decoder
"The subsystem which alters the code of information input to it through
the input transducer or internal transducer into a private code that can
be used internally by the system." (Miller)
Ecosystem of Ideas
A set of signals, most of which are weak signals, which autocatalyze each
other to create entirely new industries, products, processes. The relationship
between the invention of the automobile, and the provision of roads, gas
stations, and the like is an example of the emergence of an ecosystem
of ideas.
Encoder
"The subsystem which alters the code of information input to it form
other information processing subsystems, from a private code used internally
by the system into a public code which can be interpreted by other systems
in its environment." (Miller)
Entropy
Information is a measure of the amount of entropy or uncertainty in what
a receiver anticipates from a transmitter. The higher the entropy, the
more the information inherent in the potential information event.
"The entropy of communication theory, measured in bits
per symbol or bits per second, is equal to the average number of binary
digits per symbol or per second which are needed in order to transmit
messages produced by the source. In communication theory, entropy is interpreted
as average uncertainty or choice, e.g., the average uncertainty as to
what symbol the source will produce next or the average choice the source
has as to what symbol it will produce next. The entropy of statistical
mechanics measures the uncertainty as to which of many possible states
a physical system is actually in." (Pierce)
Feedback
The activity of a system that sends messages back to itself in order to
adjust its behavior to keep it in homeostasis, or to propel it purposefully
out of homeostasis in order to adapt.
Filter
One way of detecting a signal in a noisy channel. If the frequencies of
the noise are different from the dominant frequencies of the signal, then
a filter may be constructed that eliminates the frequencies in the noise.
The resulting signal will be clean. Notice that the power of the signal
does not have to be boosted. We refer to this phenomenon as "knowing
your noise."
You must either know the type of noise (Wiener/Cybernetics)
so you can extract a signal from it, or know the type of signal (Shannon/Communication
Theory—efficient encoding) to obtain an accurate transmission over
a noisy channel. Alternately, you can reduce noise from the channel or
boost the signal, both of which are very expensive propositions.
Homeostasis
A state of balance in a living system which must be maintained for continued
viability. An example is core body temperature.
Information
A message to which value and meaning has been applied. A measure of the
order inherent in a system (Wiener). A measure of the uncertainty or surprise
in the total communication event (Shannon).
In the colloquial use of the word "information",
we really mean "message". If someone tells you they have some
information concerning an event, they’re referring to a message concerning
the status of the behavior of a system. If they tell you they have information
concerning a subject, they’re referring to stored messages that have
been cataloged or categorized in some repository.
Wiener considers information after the signaling event,
and says that it represents something "transmitted as a single decision
between equally probable alternatives." (Wiener) He sees information
expressed as the result of a decision.
Shannon sees information at the front end of the signaling
event. At that point, the more uncertainty there is in what the receiver
expects for the next message component, the more information is contained
in the event. These two approaches are good ways to think about information
and how systems use it.
For the purposes of this series of papers, I prefer to call
the "information" contained in a signal, the "message".
I call information the measure of the uncertainty or surprise at the front
end of the communication event. At the back end of the communication event
is a message that the receiver has assigned some value to, and this is
what I call information. If the value is high, the message is compelling
information or "compelling input" and forces the receiving system
to make a decision concerning the state of the system.
Input Transducer
"The sensory subsystem which brings markers bearing information into
the system, changing them to other matter-energy forms suitable for transmission
within it." (Miller)
Internal Transducer
"The sensory subsystem which receives, from subsystems or components
within the system, markers bearing information about significant alterations
in those subsystems or components, changing them to other matter-energy
forms of a sort which can be transmitted within it." (Miller)
Memory
"The subsystem which carries out the second stage of the learning
process, storing various sorts of information in the system for different
periods of time." (Miller)
Message
The content of a signal. In a sense, the signal and its message are inseparable.
However, we may also add that a signal becomes a message when a system
has successfully decoded it. "A string of symbols; an electric signal."
(Pierce)
Meaning
The value that a receiver attaches to the content of a message in a signal.
The value is expressed in how the system uses the message to model and
adjust its current state: the state change that the controller of the
system effects upon the system as a result of the message having been
received.
Noise
"Any undesired disturbance in a signaling system, such as, random
electric currents in a telephone system. Noise is observed as static or
hissing in radio receivers and as ‘snow’ in TV." (Pierce)
Valuable weak signals are frequently treated as noise by systems and thus
overlooked. Hence the value of "knowing our noise" as a technique
for ferreting out these valuable items.
Output Transducer
The subsystem which puts out markers bearing information from the system,
changing markers within the system into other matter-energy forms which
can be transmitted over channels in the system’s environment.
Receiver
A system or subsystem employed to transduce signals bearing messages from
a Channel and Net into the system of which it is a component.
Signal
An event in which some living system or other element in the environment
transmits a message in the course or as a result of its actions or behavior.
A transmission of analog or digital patterns through some medium from
a transmitter to a receiver. The particular receiver may or may not be
intended. "A variable electric current deliberately transmitted by
a communication system." (Pierce)
Transmitter
A system or subsystem employed to transduce signals bearing messages from
the system of which it is a component into a Channel and Net.
Weak Signal
A half-hidden idea or trend that will affect how we do business, what
business we do, and the environment in which we will work; a new and surprising
signal from the receiver's vantage point; sometimes difficult to track
down amid other noise and signals; a threat or opportunity to your organization.
In general, any information that is difficult to detect or distinguish
because of the noise in the system. There are three varieties of weak
signals.
- Any difficult to detect signal which indicates a disruption in the
normal operations (homeostasis) of a system.
- Any difficult to detect signal which indicates a linear trend in the
development of some idea or system.
- A non-linear, hard to predict trend that has yet to reach mainstream
recognition.
Weak Signal® Research
Refers to those organizational traits and organic components that enable
the enterprise to detect weak signals as a matter of course, build models
and stories that illustrate the possible effects of whole sets of signals
over time, and redesign itself efficiently to take advantage of these
possibilities.
References:
Miller, James Grier, Living Systems
Pierce, John R., An Introduction to Information Theory:
Symbols, Signals and Noise
Wiener, Norbert, Cybernetics: or Control and Communication
in the Animal and the Machine
Related Weak Signal Research Articles
Part I: Introduction
Part 2: Information Theory
Part 3: Sampling, Uncertainty and Phase
Shifts in Weak Signals
Part 4: Evolution and Growth of the Weak
Signal to Maturity
Part 5: A Process Model for Weak Signal
Research
Other material on Weak Signal Research on this website
 
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