The fixation of knowledge: the general shape of information and its practical consequences for information design
ALAN D. MANNING · 2003
Though professional communication theorists typically borrow from other disciplines (linguistics, rhetoric, cognitive or social psychology, etc.) we might develop a freestanding theory of information design, related perhaps to other disciplines, but still independent, in the way that organic chemistry is a freestanding discipline separate in many ways from general chemistry. I propose a base for such a theory in C.S. Peirce's general model of inquiry (1877). Useful information is shaped by a definitive question (topic) which moves an audience to search information for answers. Professional communication theory can be independently driven by the kinds of questions it seeks answers to.