Free In the Beginning Was Information by Werner Gitt

can depend on information that has previously been conceptualized by the sender for the intended purpose. On the other hand, intelligent actions that do not derive from a sender are also possible.
    A relevant theorem is the following:
Theorem 18: Information is able to cause the recipient to take some action (stimulate, initialize, or implement). This reactive functioning of information is valid for both inanimate systems (e.g., computers or an automatic car wash) as well as living organisms (e.g., activities in cells, actions of animals, and activities of human beings).
    4.5 The Fifth Level of Information: Apobetics
     
    We consider book B for the last time to illustrate one further level of information. Goethe once said, "Certain books seem to have been written not so much to enable one to learn something, but to show that the author knew something." This reason for writing a book, which is of course not worth emulating, does, however, express something of fundamental importance: The sender has some purpose for the recipient. The purpose of a promotional slogan is that the manufacturing firm can have a good turnover for the year. In the New Testament, John mentions a completely different purpose for his information: "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). We conclude that some purpose is pursued whenever information is involved.
    We now realize that any piece of information has a purpose, and have come to the last and highest level of information, namely apobetics (the teleological aspect, the question of the purpose; derived from the Greek apobeinon = result, success, conclusion). The term "apobetics" was introduced by the author in 1981 [G4] to conform to the titles of the other four levels. For every result on the side of the recipient there is a corresponding conceptual purpose, plan, or representation in the mind of the sender. The teleological aspect of information is the most important, because it concerns the premeditated purpose of the sender. Any piece of information involves the question: "Why does the sender communicate this information, and what result does he want to achieve for or in the recipient?" The following examples should elucidate this aspect:
    – The male bird calls a mate by means of his song, or he establishes his territory.
    – Computer programs are written with a purpose (e.g., solution a set of equations, inversion of matrices, or to manipulate some system).
    – The manufacturer of chocolate A uses a promotional slogan to the recipient to buy his brand.
    – The Creator gave gregarious insects a pheromonal language for the purpose of communication, for example to identify intruders or indicate the location of a new source of food.
    – Man was gifted with a natural language; this can be used for communicating with other people, and to formulate purposes.
    – God gives us a purpose in life through the Bible; this is discussed more fully in Part 3 of this book.
    Examples of questions concerning apobetics, are:
    a) Concerning the sender:
    – Has an unambiguous purpose been defined?
    – What purpose is intended for the recipient?
    – Can this purpose be recognized directly, or could it only be deduced indirectly?
    b) Concerning the recipient:
    – What purpose is achieved through the actions of the recipient?
    – Does the result obtained in the recipient correspond to the purpose which the sender had in mind?
    – Did the recipient find a purpose which the sender had not intended (e.g., the evaluation of historical documents could serve a purpose which was never thought of by the author)?
    The sender’s intention can be achieved in various ways by the recipient:
    – completely (doing exactly what the sender requested)
    – partly
    – not at all
    – doing exactly the opposite
    The response to an unambiguously formulated purpose (e.g., computer program, commands given personally, or promotional