Information

Information in the context of scientific discussion is often used by apologists to mean data, instruction, knowledge, or as having inherent meaning. A more pragmatic usage of the word would be to use it as a label for things that will have a relevant meaning to all minds that are aware of what the values represent in the real world. A naturally occurring pattern has information in it if its basic units are assigned values by a mind, however, without minds, all phenomenon are without meaning. Phenomenon are only granted meaning by minds, but just because phenomenon exist does not indicate the existence of a mind that has granted it meaning. A designed information storage device (such as a vinyl record or compact disc) contains information since its units are assigned values and reader devices (such as a record player or CD player) is built to recognize the form and composition of these bits to be translated to a form relevant to that mind.