In the Beginning was Information

tents and because of the encoding process. This aspect is, however,frequently underrated [F3]: “When a message is composed, itinvolves the coding of its mental content, but the message itself isnot concerned about whether the contents are important or unimportant,valuable, useful or meaningless. Only the recipient canevaluate the message after decoding it.”3.3 Information: Not a Property of Matter!It should now be clear that information, being a fundamental entity,cannot be a property of matter, and its origin cannot be explainedin terms of material processes. We therefore formulate the followingfundamental theorem:Theorem 1: The fundamental quantity information is a nonmaterial(mental) entity. It is not a property of matter, so thatpurely material processes are fundamentally precluded assources of information.Figure 8 illustrates the known fundamental entities, mass, energy,and information. Mass and energy are undoubtedly of a materialphysicalnature. And for both of them important conservation lawsplay a significant role in physics and chemistry and in all derivedapplied sciences. Mass and energy are linked by means of Einstein’sequivalence formula E = m x c 2 . In the left part of Figure 8some of the many chemical and physical properties of matter in allits forms, are illustrated, together with the defined units. The righthand part of Figure 8 illustrates nonmaterial properties and quantities,where information, I, belongs.What is the causative factor for the existence of information? Whatprompts us to write a letter, a postcard, a note of felicitation, adiary, or a comment in a file? The most important prerequisite isour own volition, or that of a supervisor. In analogy to the materialside we now introduce a fourth fundamental entity, namely Will(volition), W. Information and volition are closely linked, but thisrelationship cannot be expressed in a formula, because both are ofa nonmaterial (mental, intellectual, spiritual) nature. The connectingarrows indicate the following:47