IOInformational Ontology
Visual aids · M

M — Meaning

In IO, meaning is not “in the signal by itself.” Meaning arises when information becomes relevant to persistence — relative to a system’s constraint (V) and its current situation/context.

This diagram is intentionally simple. It is an intuition builder, not a proof.

Same signal, different meaning

System A (too hot)System B (too cold)Same incoming information (signal): +2°C changefailure regionfailure regionsafe band (persistence)+2°C pushes toward failurecurrent state (near upper boundary)failure regionfailure regionsafe band (persistence)+2°C moves toward stabilitycurrent state (near lower boundary)Meaning (for System A):“danger increasing → act to cool / reduce temperature”Meaning (for System B):“relief / safer → act less (or conserve effort)”Meaning is not in the signal alone — it arises from Signal × Value × Context → action relevance.

The same incoming information (“+2°C”) produces different meaning because each system is in a different situation relative to its persistence band.

IO takeaway: meaning is constraint-relative relevance — what a piece of information implies for staying inside (or leaving) the band.