Information, representation, and cognition

This article discusses the concept of information in the context of its application in theories of cognition mainly those based on the idea of consciousness as information processing. The concept of Natural Information is presented as a complement to the classic Shannon’s information model by shifting the focus of the information concept from the message to the entire communication system. This model proposes that: (1) Information is not something itself but it is always about something; (2) Information is not an object but a relationship; (3) Information is an emergent property of interfaces; (4) Information is the subset of elements of a given instance connected, related, caused, or paired with elements of another instance; (5) Information is present in the universe at all organizational levels including mental states; (6) Information is physically made of the same substance as the instance that acquires the information. We introduce the concepts of codable and non-codable elements of information to account for the emergence of meaning and qualia. The contribution of these concepts to the discussions about the emergence of meaning and the structure of self are discussed. We propose this model as a road map to describe information processing in mental processes locating classic ideas and old problems in the context of new concepts. Our model is still a work in progress aiming to contribute to the understanding of the role of information in computational, psychological, and social contexts.