Expanding the categories of feedback

The contention of this paper is that feedback is a genus of information categories that should be expanded to include, in addition to positive and negative feedback, what is here termed mnemonic or structure‐continuing feedback. An informal argument is first advanced to establish a view of information generally as an active agency in the functioning of systems. The informal argument is next complemented by a set of formal expressions for the views advanced. Both formal and informal considerations are supported by numerous illustrations from biological and computer sciences as well as by more general observations from the philosophy of science. Since the overriding intent is to present the thesis that each systemic element of a system's structure has information value in its own right and in a decidedly nontrivial sense, it endeavors to solidify the reasons for regarding this thesis as sound, but does not employ the thesis outside the bounds of theory. In this sense the discussion is purely theoretical although it intends as much to unify the observations of several fields as to advance an expanded conceptualization of feedback suitable to both information and systems theory.