“A difference that makes a difference is an idea.”

Models can be categorized in different ways. For the physical sciences they are either entity or process models. Entity models are static; they contain no motion or interaction between the parts. A city map is a good example. You can see distances and directions between objects, their usage, addresses, public or private land and so on. All of the parts are laid out and there is ‘no order’ that you must use the different parts in.

Process models are built to explain motion, action, change; they are systems models. The OODA loop and well-conceived allopoietic and autopoietic models do that. They use entity models as bookends to establish communication boundaries and channels. In this sense process models borrow entity models to help explain change. When we use a city map as a part of the process of locating our position or destination it is one part of our search process.

The difference between the two types of models is that process models must account for change or movement, entity models don’t. In physics change or movement is work and requires energy. Process models have to include some type of energy source in order to produce this work.

In soccer the predominant energy source is information. In order to play the game information has to be shared which requires communication. Someone sends a signal that is received and understood by someone else, the bookends above. In order to play well communication has to be at a high level. The information flow needs to be clear, accurate, concise and timely. Which brings up some new voices on information theory.

I’ll combine Leo Szilard and Gregory Bateson to set the stage. “Szilard was perhaps the first to define the notion of a bit of information-the information obtained from the answer to a yes/no question.” For Bateson, this bit is “a difference that makes a difference and a difference that makes a difference is an idea.” At this level a bit of information is all that’s needed to create an idea. (This notion has tremendous implications for learning, decision-making and action.)

These bits have to get to us somehow and that is in the form of energy. In soccer we’re concerned with several forms of E/I. These forms can work together to create clear understanding or conflict and create ambiguity and confusion. The important E/I forms are visual, hearing, touch, vestibular, kinesthetic and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The first three should be familiar and how they come together or fall apart shouldn’t need explanation. The next two provide us with information about where all of the Degrees of Freedom are, how fast and where they’re going even though we can’t ‘explicitly know’ all of those details. The Second Law is a part of the E/I package because it supplies the Arrow of Time. We can ‘feel time pass’ and the inability to control it. The Second Law is like having a hand in your back constantly pushing you forward whether you’re ready or not. It’s also a great equalizer on the field. While everyone has different levels of the first five E/I forms no one has an advantage in real time. Just because someone can see, hear or sense faster their advantage can be easily lost if the necessary action isn’t taken ‘in time.’

For players to make a proactive action they have to make decisions. To make a decision they need information. Information comes to them as a form of energy. Energy is subject to the laws of physics. Therefore we can say that there is a connection between energy flow and information. Since there is a connection between the two it will need to be explained through process models. If “a difference that makes a difference is an idea” is true this appears to be the way to go.