The fundamental unit is that which allows adequate construction of a model or a theory without any additional information. Any additional information beyond the fundamental unit unnecessarily opens the solution to error and bias. Each system or problem has its own fundamental unit given the characteristics of the model and the complexity of the question under consideration. Defining fundamental in relation to model building informs not just scientific research, but also the decisions we make and problems we solve daily. This essay investigates the fundamental unit using an information theoretic approach.
Amos Golan