6 ms·
A well known anecdote reported by Shannon: "My greatest concern was what to call it. I thought of calling it 'information,' but the word was overly used, so I
by Jun8 2y ago
A well known anecdote reported by Shannon:
"My greatest concern was what to call it. I thought of calling it 'information,' but the word was overly used, so I decided to call it 'uncertainty.' When I discussed it with John von Neumann, he had a better idea. Von Neumann told me, 'You should call it entropy, for two reasons. In the first place your uncertainty function has been used in statistical mechanics under that name, so it already has a name. In the second place, and more important, no one really knows what entropy really is, so in a debate you will always have the advantage.'"
See the answers to this MathOverflow SE question (https://mathoverflow.net/questions/403036/john-von-neumanns-remark-on-entropy https://mathoverflow.net/questions/403036/john-von-neumanns-...) for references on the discussion whether Shannon's entropy is the same as the one from thermodynamics.
- BigParm 2y agoVon Neumann was the king of kings
- tonetegeatinst 2y agoIts odd...as someone interested but not fully into the sciences I see his name pop up everywhere.
- otteromkram 2y ago[flagged]
- farias0 2y agoI've seen many people arguing he's the most intelligent person that ever lived
- bee_rider 2y agoHe was really brilliant, made contributions all over the place in the math/physics/tech field, and had a sort of wild and quirky personality that people love telling stories about. A funny quote about him from a Edward “a guy with multiple equations named after him” Teller: > Edward Teller observed "von Neumann would carry on a conversation with my 3-year-old son, and the two of them would talk as equals, and I sometimes wondered if he used the same principle when he talked to the rest of us."
- strogonoff 2y agoAre there many von-Neumann-like multidisciplinaries nowadays? It feels like unless one is razor sharp fully into one field one is not to be treated seriously by those who made careers in it (and who have the last word on it).
- i_am_proteus 2y agoThere have been a very small number of thinkers as publicly accomplished as von Neumann ever. One other who comes to mind is Carl F. Gauss.
- strogonoff 2y agoIs it fair to say that the number of publicly accomplished multidisciplinaries alive at a particular moment is not rising as it may be expected, proportionally to the total number of suitably educated people?
- djd3 2y agoEuler. JVM was one of the smartest ever, but Euler was there centuries before and shows up in so many places. If I had a Time Machine I'd love to get those two together for a stiff drink and a banter.
- passion__desire 2y agoGenius Edward Teller Describes 1950s Genius John Von Neumann https://youtu.be/Oh31I1F2vds?t=189 https://youtu.be/Oh31I1F2vds?t=189 Describes Von Neumann's final days struggle when he couldn't think. Thinking, an activity which he loved the most.
- rramadass 2y agoAn Introduction here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPMjVcLiNKc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPMjVcLiNKc
- complaintdept 2y agoEven mortals such as ourselves can apply some of Von Neumann's ideas in our everyday lives: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_coin#Fair_results_from_a_biased_coin https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_coin#Fair_results_from_...
- vinnyvichy 2y agoSo much so, he has his own entropy! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_entropy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_entropy
- penguin_booze 2y agoHe's a certified Martian: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Martians_(scientists) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Martians_(scientists).
- khana 2y ago[dead]
- zeristor 2y agoI was hoping the Wikipedia might explain why this might have been.
- cubefox 2y agohttps://emilkirkegaard.dk/en/2022/11/a-theory-of-ashkenazi-genius-intelligence-and-mental-illness/ https://emilkirkegaard.dk/en/2022/11/a-theory-of-ashkenazi-g...
- bglazer 2y agoEmil Kirkegaard is a self-described white nationalist eugenicist who thinks the age of consent is too high. I wouldn't trust anything he has to say.
- YeGoblynQueenne 2y agoNo need for ad hominems. This suffices to place doubt on the article's premises (and therefore any conclusion): >> This hasn’t been strictly shown mathematically, but I think it is true.
- cubefox 2y ago> Emil Kirkegaard is a self-described white nationalist That's simply a lie. > who thinks the age of consent is too high Too high in which country? Such laws vary strongly, even by US state, and he is from Denmark. Anyway, this has nothing to do with the topic at hand.
- topologie 2y agoI disagree... Von Neumann went beyond being a King of Kings, the man was a God (or a "Monster Mind" according to Feynman) :)