The Communication Problem: The Statistical, the Semantic and the Effectiveness Viewpoints — Sources Having Utilities and the Useful Entropy

Abstract

In this Chapter we intend to give a general motivation for the subsequent developments. Although a mathematical treatment needs no motivation in general, but only sound definitions and tools, it seems however that the particular topic treated requires further and deeper foundations. Actually its relevance to practical, i.e. non-mathematical, fields makes it hard to conceive information theory per se; this isolative wiew could have two kinds of negative effects.