The interpretation of entropy and negative entropy theories on the nature of information is the first scientific paradigm on the interpretation of the nature of information at the beginning of the rise of contemporary information science. The information entropy or negative entropy theories are the relative measurement for the structuralization degree of the system at a specific level, which have certain characteristics of relativity, functionality, and quantification. Although the concepts of entropy, negative entropy, information, entropy increase, and entropy decrease often have very different specific meanings in different disciplines and for different scientists, the meanings of these concepts are unified in essence and the differences between them are generated when the same kind of concepts is applied to the study of different directions of the same kind of phenomena: either to the static structuralization degree of the system or to the change of the dynamic structuralization degree of the system. Since entropy and negative entropy theories only measure the relationship of structural differences at a specific level of the system from a formal aspect, they are not aimed at the information itself but rather they are aimed at only the structuralization characteristics of the information carrier itself at a specific level. Because of this, it is impossible to deduce the general nature of information directly from such theories.

Self‐organization is a general mechanism for the creation of new structural pattern of systems. A pattern, in essence, is a relationship, an architecture, a way of organizing, and a structure of order, which can only be explained by information activities. The characteristics of self‐organization behavior, such as openness, nonlinearity, inner randomness, inner feedback, information network, and holographic construction, provide corresponding conditions and basis for the self‐organizing evolution of the system from the aspects of environmental information function, maintenance and construction of the overall information framework of the system, and exploration of new information mode of the system. Based on the general process and mechanism of self‐organization system evolution, its corresponding basic stages have the significance and value of information activities. Generally speaking, the process of system elements differentiating from the original system is the decoupling of information association between relevant elements and original systems. The convergence process of forming system elements is the initial exploration of forming a new information model; the nucleation process of some initial stabilization modes is the creation of information codons; the development of the system according to a particular pattern is ergodic construction of information feedback chain indicated by information codon; the diffusion of system self‐replication is the expansion of the quantity of the information model; the variation in system self‐replication is the innovation process of introducing new information pattern; environment‐based selection and evolution correspond to the complex development of information pattern; and the alternation of old and new structures in system evolution corresponds to the formation process of the whole information network framework of the new system. In order to explain the self‐organization’s characteristics, processes, and mechanisms of system evolution at a more comprehensive level, the complexity research program must pay enough attention to and give due status to the information factors and information science creed. Moreover, the information science research creed may also provide some basic theoretical paradigms with core theoretical significance for complex system research.

The definition follows the propositional logic, the definition of information is no exception. In recent years, the starting point of the research on the definition of information involves generally investigation of the history of the concept, interdisciplinary research and different aspects of cognition that includes ontology, epistemology, and linguistics and so on, the understanding about the definition of information is divergent. As long as it is about definition of information, regardless what kind of study, however, follows the propositional logic. So the true and false judgment about the definition of information is actually judgment on the proposition of the definition of information. This paper classifies various kinds of intension and definition of the information in the propositional structure by analysing the propositional structure of definition of information and various kinds of defined method about definition of information.

At present, there are many opinions and much confusion in the discussion of the concepts of information, knowledge, data, digit, practice and intelligence, and even the regulations and appellations and their interrelations in the information society and intelligent society, which directly proves that it is necessary to find a reasonable explanation dimension to explain such concepts, appellations and their relations clearly and uniformly. This will certainly help to promote the progress of research in this field.