viewwhether

Viewwhether is a term used to describe a decision-making concept in information theory and cognitive science that concerns whether to view or retrieve additional information. It defines a framework for assessing the value of viewing further data against the costs, risks, and delays associated with doing so. The term combines view and whether to emphasize the conditional choice at the point of information seeking. While not widely adopted as a formal theory, viewwhether appears in discussions of information-seeking behavior and decision policies in human-computer interaction and AI systems.

The theoretical core treats the decision to view as a binary action governed by a threshold: view if the expected value of information minus costs exceeds the threshold; otherwise refrain. Value of information (VOI) is estimated via probabilistic beliefs, potential impact on subsequent decisions, and time or privacy costs. In practice, viewwhether can be implemented as a rule in interfaces that offer previews, or as a decision rule in agents that decide when to fetch data, display hints, or solicit user input.

Applications of the concept appear in user interfaces, recommender systems, and autonomous agents, where the preferred action is to reveal only when the benefit of viewing outweighs the cost. This can help manage information overload, privacy concerns, and latency in interactive systems.

Limitations include vagueness of the term, variability in VOI calculation, and challenges in measuring costs in dynamic environments. Some critics argue that reducing viewing decisions to a single metric may overlook broader epistemic and practical considerations.

See also: value of information, information-seeking behavior, active learning, meta-decision theory.