Sunghoon Lee

Information Science and the Humanities Sunghoon Lee

Everybody uses information in the age of information. But few people know exactly what information is and what it does inside the human body and mind. That is why the study of information itself in the information age is urgently needed. Information Science and the Humanities approaches this study of information firstly through science, trying to understand and explain information in scientific terms. Then it proposes that since information is the basis of all thoughts and disciplines, it can be the language and concept through which diverse disciplines can reach consilience and convergence. And based on the belief that information could be a useful academic concept especially in overcoming all dichotomies including the dichotomy of science and the humanities, the book goes on to apply information theory to the analysis of several different disciplines. To this end, Information Science and the Humanities introduces and explains the following concepts. First, to connect information to the humanities, the book introduces the concept of the dimensionality of information, namely algorithmic, complexity and quantum information. It also explains several phenomena in the humanities in terms of the confrontation and balance between the two main properties or functions of information, that is, the conservative and deconstructive forces of information. For a long time, modern physics has been focused only on matter and energy. But the most recent developments in physics have been propelled by the utilization of information theory in describing many complex concepts and challenging questions of contemporary physics. Likewise, the book makes use of information theory to shed new light on the problems modern physicists deal with. In other words, it regards physics not only from a material perspective but as the evolving relationality between matter and information, thus describing the many different dimensions of matter. Having laid this theoretical foundation, Information Science and the Humanities goes on to apply information theory to the analysis and description of several fields and disciplines, starting with philosophy. It uses information theory to describe epistemology, ontology and deconstructivist philosophy, and then pays special attention to analyzing semiotics and linguistics, the foundation of contemporary philosophy. The book also suggests that the theories of neural networks and neuroimmunology based on information theory could be the pathway to integrating psychoanalysis and neuroscience, the two dichotomous tracks of psychiatry. Until now, diseases have been understood and treated only in terms of matter and energy. But the book expands the perception of medicine to include information theory, thus proposing new ways to understand diseases as well as the possibility of using this approach as the basis to integrate eastern and western medicine. The book also attempts to integrate matter, mind and spirituality in one continuum. And finally, it looks at eastern ideologies through the lens of information science, thereby exploring the possibility of integrating eastern ideologies to western ideologies and science. Through all these efforts, the book ultimately reaffirms the utility of information as a tool for the understanding and consilience of diverse disciplines.