Information Theory

One of the traits that makes humans unique from other animals is our consciousness, the fact that we can remember concrete ideas, both actual memories and abstract thoughts. These brain activities are information. Another trait of humans is language, that is, the ability of one human to express those thoughts to one or more other humans in such a way that the other people now understand and could in turn communicate those same thoughts. Anthropologists believe that emergence of language hundreds of thousands of years ago is one of the key factors that led our hominid ancestors to develop prehistoric technology, and, most importantly, to pass technical and other knowledge to each other and down through the generations – this is known as Collective Learning. Then, several thousand years ago, people invented methods for recording information and/or transmitting information non-audibly – through writing. This development was both caused by and led to greater and greater social and technological complexity. Over time, a series of technological developments made writing more efficient and easier to transmit. Then, in the late 19th century, the development of electrical technology led to new ways to record, store, and transmit information. Ultimately, several decades ago, these technologies led to a further burst of progress in how we create, process, store, and communicate information – the so-called Information Revolution. This has had almost unlimited impact on modern society and is the focus of this Inquiry Unit.

This inquiry unit is brought to you by the IEEE Information Theory Society & Ray and Carmen Vargas.