In the Beginning was Information

10 Some Quantitative Evaluationsof SemanticsWe can now begin to evaluate semantic information quantitatively,after having considered the essentials at the semantics level in thepreceding chapters. Let us take the semantic value S to represent aquantitative evaluation of the quality of the information. Then sixquantities can be used, namely semantic quality q, relevance r,timeliness a, accessibility z, existence e, and comprehensibility v.It is obvious from these concepts that we are considering the informationfrom the point of view of the recipient and his subjectiveappraisal. These quantities are normalised on a scale from 0 to 1,and they are all positive, except for q which can also take on negativevalues, as should be clear from the previous chapter. These sixvariables are now discussed briefly:1. Semantic quality q (a subjective concept, mainly concerns therecipient): This is used as a measure of the importance of the meaningof some information. Different qualities can be considered accordingto the goal and the kind of information. Some significant aspects ofcreative information in particular are depicted in Figure 22. For acomputer program for example, the following criteria are relevant andcrucial on the semantic level and in part at the pragmatic level:– Efficacy of the applied algorithm (e. g. simple method of solution,speed of convergence, and absence of instability).– Minimal computing time (this can be a decisive cost factorwhen time has to be paid for).– Portability, meaning that the program can also run on othercomputer systems.– Reliability, meaning that the program has been tested comprehensivelyand is fully debugged so that the desired results willbe obtained with a high degree of certainty.– The programming language used.The weight of each aspect depends on both objective and subjectiveevaluations. For inane or nonsensical information q is taken aszero, while for the best possible information q = 1.120