In the Beginning was Information

such diverse topics as technology, physics, materials, books, andthe social sciences, etc.Even if information is accessible, a may still be zero when:– the information cannot be seen by the recipient (I am dying ofthirst in the desert close to a spring but I do not know that it isthere.),– the information is coded in a language that the recipient doesnot understand (e. g. an English tourist in China who cannotread Chinese),– the information is coached in technical terms which can only beunderstood by adepts (e. g. legal texts that laymen cannot follow,or a mathematical book which is “Greek” to the uninitiated),– the sender deliberately excludes some potential recipients (e. g.secret encrypted information, data protection in EDP systems,and sealing a letter).5. Existence e (objective concept, mainly concerns the sender):Whereas accessibility involves the possibility that an individualcan lay his hand on information which is in principle available,existence concerns the basic question whether the informationexists at all. Accessibility involves the recipient only, but existencedepends solely on the sender. The value of e lies between 0 and 1,and it indicates how much of the available or desired informationabout the present case can be obtained (e. g. what fraction hasalready been researched). The existence e is zero for questionswhich are completely open, and if something is fully known, e = 1.The previously open question of whether there is life on the moon(e = 0) has now been answered completely (e = 1). For informationto cure cancer of the liver, e = 0; in the case of stomach cancer itlies somewhere between 0 and 1, depending on the stage of development.It is quite difficult to make an estimate of the value of e,since the totality of relevant information is in general not known ata given moment. The great physicist Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727)estimated his contribution to scientific research as a very small evalue in spite of his many valuable findings. He said [M3]: “I donot know what the world thinks of me; but to myself I appear as alittle boy playing on the beach and who finds joy in discovering a122