This is Fuller's application of cybernetics to heuristics. It is a way of implementing his strategy of starting with the Universe in order to avoid omitting any critical variables.
The term "bits" refers to the binary subdivisions carried out so as to systematically eliminate sets of irrelevancies, after the manner of the game Twenty Questions. By asking 20 yes-or-no questions, one obtains 20 bits of information.
Rucker (1988, p.27) points out that it is possible to individuate, say, a famous person in this game, because there are only about one million such people to choose from, and this is roughly equal to 2 to the power 20. By asking 30 questions, over a billion items could be distinguished.
This information theory approach can be pushed much further. According to Rucker:
"The new world view that computers have spread is this: everything is information. It is now considered reasonable to say that, at the deepest, most fundamental level, our world is made of information". (p.31)
For more of this, see Digital Physics.
See also Principle Of Whole System.
© Paul Taylor 2001