Information metabolism is a psychological theory of human social interactions based on information processing. It was developed in Eastern Europe by Antoni Kępiński.
In the late 1970s, Lithuanian psychologist Aušra Augustinavičiūtė created socionics, a personality typology based on the typology of Carl Jung and the theory of information metabolism of Antoni Kępiński, a Polish psychiatrist interested in schizophrenia.
According to Augustinavičiūtė, humans can be classified in terms of types of information processing, or "information metabolism". Psychological features such as attention, interests, memory and motivation are components of this theory of information metabolism. This theory of information metabolism is built upon an analogy to biological metabolism. According to this analogy, information that arrives as signals from outside an organism are available for information metabolism just as food is available for energy metabolism. The brain is the key information metabolism system. The brain and information metabolism deal with a two-way flow of signals: metabolism of input signals results in the production of output. Just as enzymes can constructively interact only with structurally specific substrate molecules, brains can only constructively metabolize information that is correctly "tuned" to the brain. By assigning "energy values" to the various psychological components of information metabolism, Augustinavičiūtė created a mathematical theory of thinking.
Famous quotes containing the words information and/or metabolism:
“The family circle has widened. The worldpool of information fathered by the electric media—movies, Telstar, flight—far surpasses any possible influence mom and dad can now bring to bear. Character no longer is shaped by only two earnest, fumbling experts. Now all the world’s a sage.”
—Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980)
“He’s got a fifteen percent metabolism with an overactive thyroid and a glandular affectation of about three percent. With a one percent mentality. He’s what we designate as the Crummy Moronic type.”
—Robert Pirosh, U.S. screenwriter, George Seaton, George Oppenheimer, and Sam Wood. Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush (Groucho Marx)