"Tim Tyler"  wrote in message
news:c9fpqn$19n4$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org...
> Perplexed in Peoria  wrote or quoted:
> > "Tim Tyler"  wrote in message
> > > Jim Menegay  wrote or quoted:
>
> > > > The ideal digital bowling lane would slope toward the gutters
> > > > from the center (the threshold).  And it is this "basin of
> > > > attraction" feature in the dynamics that
distinguishes digital
> > > > from analog.
> > >
> > > ...but surely analog systems can exhibit basins of attraction as well.
> >
> > But surely an IDEAL analog system will not.  See my reply to John.
>
> Can't seem to find that reply.

Damn, the reply seems to have been lost by Google Groups.  It was a
long one and I didn't save a copy.  Dumb of me.

I will try to compose an equivalent response within the next few
days.  I am currently busy searching the web for tutorials on
information theory - particularly as applied to analog signals.
So, my eventual response may be much better than the lost
original

In the meantime, the main thrust of my response to John was
that any discussion on these topics has to take place in
the context of Shannon's communication theory.  That means:

1.  That information theory inevitably carries a dose of
    teleology - it is an engineering discipline, not a
    branch of pure descriptive science.  Of course,
    Nature (natural selection) is also an engineer.  A
    central part of this is Shannon's idea of the active
    channel.

2.  Hence "analog" and "digital" cannot be understood without
    taking into account someone's intention to communicate.
    Analog and digital are names for two different strategies
    for encoding information physically.  They are not the
    names for different physical situations.

3.  That an ideal analog channel for sending digital information
    deliberately introduces distortions in the analog signal
    (the basins).    But, an ideal analog channel for sending
    analog information does not distort.

As background, I have found an online copy of Shannon's
original paper, which is worth reading even if you skip
over some of the math:

http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/what/shannonday/paper.html
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