Overall I agree with him (I don't want to consume information that doesn't surprise me in some way, and technically speaking, it isn't even information without

Overall I agree with him (I don't want to consume information that doesn't surprise me in some way, and technically speaking, it isn't even information without that surprise). But ... "surprise" is totally contingent on audience. A lot of things that will seem like unnecessary throat-clearing to experts will be both surprising and totally necessary for people lacking context. If you can't walk your audience into the proper context, whatever other surprise you offer will be meaningless, and they'll just tune out.