Calculating entropy at different scales among diverse communication systems. (31st December 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Febres, Gerardo; Jaffé, Klaus
• Is Part Of: Complexity. Volume 21(2016)Supplement 1
• Page Start: 330
• Page End: 353
• Publication Date: 2015-12-31
• Subjects: scale -- fundamental scale -- entropy -- emergence -- information -- complexity -- language recognition -- music entropy; Chaotic behavior in systems -- Periodicals; Complexity (Philosophy) -- Periodicals; 003
• DOI: 10.1002/cplx.21746
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1076-2787

Abstract

Abstract : We evaluated the impact of changing the observation scale over the entropy measures for text descriptions. MIDI coded Music, computer code, and two human natural languages were studied at the scale of characters, words, and at the Fundamental Scale resulting from adjusting the symbols length used to interpret each text‐description until it produced minimum entropy. The results show that the Fundamental Scale method is comparable to using words when measuring entropy levels in written texts. However, the Fundamental Scale can also be used to analyze communication systems lacking conventional words, such as music. Measuring symbolic entropy at the fundamental scale allows to calculate quantitatively, relative levels of complexity for different communication systems. Here, we showed that music and written language share some characteristics as communication systems but differ in others. The results open novel vistas on the similarities and differences among the structure of the various communication systems that are used by humans and by nature in general. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 21: 330–353, 2016