The system of beliefs and the receiver’s perceptions of information are necessary for the effective management of information. A sensory system is responsible for transferring the data collected by the senses to the brain. The signals like sounds, sights, and smells received by the senses, also called action potentials, are transferred to the brain by the sensory system, where they are interpreted to information of surroundings. The brain’s interpretation of surroundings is used to create a perception of the surrounding environment and acts as a base for the belief system. On the other hand, the belief system plays a significant role in creating observables that are useful to project the future.
The concept of entropy introduced by Shannon implies the maximum when all outcomes are equally likely. When the possible choices are reduced and predictability increases, the entropy goes down (Shannon & Weaver, 1964). If the entropy, or variety of options, goes down, it means that a receiver of information could ask fewer questions to get the correct answer (Art of the problem, 2013). To put it simply, the number of yes-no questions reduces, increasing the predictability of future outcomes. However, the belief system impacted by the distortion of the sensory system could interfere with the predictability. The example used in the video with the explanation of the Sensory System shows that the brain could interpret the visual signals or action potentials in the wrong way (Bozeman Science, 2012). The experiment with the tiles in which one looks darker because it is covered in the figure’s shadow shows that the receiver of information could give a wrong answer because of his system of beliefs. If the receiver of information were to answer the question of the tiles are the same color, he would say no in favor of the belief system.
The addition of the uncertainty, or surprise outcome, is used to predict the future. The possibility of mistakes introduced by the belief system, in this case, leads to the creation of observables useful to project the future in a way that could not be affected by the belief system. Dealing with errors of the sensory system and belief system could add more to the number of outcomes or reduce them.
References
Art of the problem. (2013). Information Theory part 12: Information Entropy (Claude Shannon’s formula). Web.
Bozeman Science. (2012). The Sensory System. Web.
Shannon, C., & Weaver, W. (1964). The mathematical theory of communication. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press.