A Mathematical Theory of Pragmatic Information
Quick summary
arXiv:2609.10986v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: We propose a pragmatic information theory unifying communication, control, and decision-making. Its core is the isoteleia mapping, formalizing equifinality: distinct semantic paths leading to the same optimal action are pragmatically equivalent. This induces a three-tier hierarchy of syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic information, each abstraction discarding task-irrelevant distinctions. We develop pragmatic entropy, up/down mutual information, channel capacity, and rate-distortion, and prove three coding theorems generalizing Shannon's classic
Key takeaways
- arXiv:2609.10986v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: We propose a pragmatic information theory unifying communication, control, and decision-making.
- Its core is the isoteleia mapping, formalizing equifinality: distinct semantic paths leading to the same optimal action are pragmatically equivalent.
- This induces a three-tier hierarchy of syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic information, each abstraction discarding task-irrelevant distinctions.
Why it matters
The importance of “A Mathematical Theory of Pragmatic Information” will be measured by what changes in practice. User behavior, access conditions, verifiable performance and responsible-use outcomes are the signals worth following.
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