In the Beginning was Information

2. Relevance r (subjective concept, mainly concerns the recipient):This aspect reflects individual interests in particular and itincludes its relevance for achieving some purpose (e. g. an economical,a technical, or a strategic goal, collector’s value, or lifepurpose). If r = 1 for person A, the same information can be totallyirrelevant for B (r = 0). The weather forecasts for Australia are normallyof no importance for somebody in Europe (r = 0), but theirrelevance can increase dramatically when that person is planningto go there. For a farmer the agricultural news has a relevancecompletely different from the latest research results in physics. It isobvious that relevance depends entirely on the recipient. A galeand storm tide warning over the radio is highly relevant for inhabitantsof a coastal island, while continental residents who liveinland are not concerned. The main problem of relevance is to estimateit correctly. If relevance has been appraised erroneously, itmight have catastrophic effects. There are innumerable cases inhuman history where wrong decisions were made on the groundsof a faulty appraisal of the relevance of information. The cost wasastronomical in terms of lives and property.3. Timeliness t (subjective concept, mainly concerns the recipient):It is in many cases necessary that relevant information shouldbe available at the required moment. Newsworthiness is timedependent,so that t = 0 for yesterday’s news, and t = 1 for highlyrelevant information received at the right moment. When a personis standing in the rain and somebody tells him that it is raining, thenewsworthiness of this information is zero (t = 0), although it istopical and relevant.4. Accessibility a (subjective concept, mainly concerns the recipient):The most important information is worthless if it cannot beaccessed; then a = 0 (no access). On the other hand, a = 1 when therecipient has full access to the information transmitted by thesender. With the increasing flood of information the “know-where”is becoming steadily more important, and aids like catch-word registers,lexicons, card systems, and data banks are available. Associativestorage would be a great help, but only the brain can providethis ideal access principle. In many countries there are computercentres with online facilities which provide direct access toinformation (Internet). These data banks contain information on121