Start here · Step 6 of 8
Meaning: patterns that matter over time
When information and value are woven together across time, we get something richer: meaning. Signals, symbols, and events start to fit into stories about what matters and what to expect.
The red light at a crossing
At a traffic light, red doesn't just mean “this part of the spectrum”. For drivers, it means:
- Stop now.
- Because cross traffic is about to move.
- And not stopping could be dangerous or illegal.
The colour is tied to a network of expectations, rules, and possible outcomes. That's meaning: information shaped by value and context.
Meaning as lived pattern
At human scales, meaning shows up everywhere:
- A wedding ring means a promise and a shared history, not just a piece of metal.
- A familiar song can mean comfort, nostalgia, or grief, depending on your story with it.
- A scientific graph can mean support for a theory or a reason to doubt it.
In each case, information is plugged into patterns of value and expectation. What something means is inseparable from what it does to the web of values a system carries.
Deeper insight: many layers of meaning
IO does not assume there is only one “true” level of meaning. A single event can mean different things to different systems, depending on how it fits into their existing structures of value and information.
What the ontology tries to do is show the conditions under which meaning is possible at all: stable information, organised awareness, and patterns of value that reach through time.
What to carry forward
The key idea from this step:
Meaning is what you get when information, value, and context are woven into patterns that guide expectations and interpretation.