A Mathematical Theory of Communication (1948) [pdf]

math.harvard.edu

61 points·mubaris··11 comments

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Also read Norbert Wiener's Cybernetics http://uberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Norbert_Wiener_...

Extremely well written. I wish I hadn't been so lazy while I was in college, and read this earlier.

Is there any intelligent public community discussion available on this?

I wish I had one to point to, but there should be almost 70 years' worth :P

https://monoskop.org/images/2/2f/Shannon_Claude_E_1956_The_B...

This one is important too

I've always liked the intro to this, such a simple definition of information, a choice out of a selection of choices.

tldr; Shannon's 1948 paper

Somehow I get the impression you're doing pretty well if you even know of the existence of this paper. It's far easier to go through all of CS and even EE undergrad, never even knowing the foundation of the whole field.

If true, that's pretty disappointing. We had to read parts of this paper in a philosophy class. I remember having to calculate entropies for one of the exams.

It's sad, I have to agree. I feel like we (yes, all of us) are missing great opportunities by concentrating too much on directly monetizable ("work-related") knowledge in our educational systems. It's just shortsighted and works against intrinsic motivations to learn.

That being said I learned about cybernetics in a sociology class. Getting to know Shannon, Wiener, Von Foerster, George Spencer Brown ("Laws of Form" highly recommended reading) and Luhmann was the most interesting stuff I ever got to learn.

Wow, that's amazing. Would've never expected philosophy to do this kind of thing!

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