What is information?

Information is being researched in the article from one of the debated points of view – paninformism: it is claimed that it is a universal characteristic of being, existing not only in the consciousness of people, but also in inanimate nature and being on the same level of generality as matter and energy (N. Wiener). The purpose of the article is to offer for discussion a definition of information that covers all its varieties. To achieve this goal, a genetic approach is used: first, information contained in inanimate objects is considered, then – genetic information and information functioning in organisms devoid of subjective reality, after that – subjective and, finally, computer information. This approach allows us to identify the generic feature of all these varieties of information on specific material. It is shown that, depending on the style of thinking, it is expressed by three philosophical categories: "form", "structure" and "relation". In the article, the third category is the main research tool. It is asserted that the system of relations forming an object from its components becomes information in the presence of two definitive features: 1) it is capable of transmission to other objects, 2) the emerging information is in a relationship of correspondence with the preceding one. The relationship between subjective information and objective information, which is located in the individual's brain and represents a system of relationships both between the components of the brain itself and between the electrochemical processes occurring in it, is analyzed. Two interpretations of the relationship between these two types of information are compared. The advantages and difficulties of these interpretations are considered.

Information, communication, formal cause, form, structure, relation, objective information, subjective information, genetic information, paninformism