[Alamo-Girl]

IMHO, the "made to perform" term underscored the kinetic property of a successful communication.

Of a truth, in biological programmed cell death, the message itself might be to curl up and die.

Thank you so much for sharing your insights, dearest sister in Christ!

[TXnMA]

Dear Sisters:

I deliberately used the terms, "made to", "human", and "sentient" -- to stimulate A-G into revising her analogy into a more general form. '-}

As they say in Congress, "I now exercise my right to 'revise and extend' my own remarks:" ;-)

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A-G: "The letter in your mailbox doesn't become information until you read it. "

TXnMA: So, by extension, the words written on a letter, the bits stored on a flash drive, or the pits on a DVD are not "information", either -- until they are decoded and [made to] perform a function that interacts with a human [consciously] reactive recipient.

I see a Newtonian analogy: All of the above data-storage forms are potential information -- much as water behind a dam, or gunpowder in a cartridge, or a weight hanging over your head ...represents potential energy.

So, by that analogy -- and your statement -- "information" could be viewed as "kinetic data" that also interacts with a sentient [consciously] reactive recipient....

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Caveats and disclaimers:

1. I have been known (when introducing a concept or design as a "Straw Man" to be 'picked apart') to deliberately include a "['ugly, hairy arm']" to direct destructive attention away from parts I wish to preserve... ;-)

2. A portion of my research career (and resultant patents -- including my very first one) involved using light energy (both 'info-coded' and 'raw') to effect actions and reactions (including chemical reactions) -- sometimes "at a distance".

As you might guess, I know (at least, in part) where I'm going with this... <LOL!>

Admittedly, I've never read Shannon, but, I really expect that there are some new "group insights" lurking in this train of thought!