# Record
**Author:** @cameron.stream (`did:plc:gfrmhdmjvxn2sjedzboeudef`)

## `information-theory`
**Collection:** `site.standard.document`
**AT URI:** `at://did:plc:gfrmhdmjvxn2sjedzboeudef/site.standard.document/information-theory`

**Title:** Information Theory
**Published:** Mon, 25 Jun 2018 07:00:00 GMT
**Publication:** `at://did:plc:gfrmhdmjvxn2sjedzboeudef/site.standard.publication/3md7ylshxzk2y`
**Path:** /information-theory
**Tags:** blog

**Content:**
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                },
                "features": [
                  {
                    "uri": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_theory",
                    "$type": "pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ],
            "plaintext": "I've recently been perusing an introductory text of information theory. Information theory is one of those things that I have always wanted to look into but never gotten around to -- but now I am an adult with real things to try not to do, so I figured what the hell."
          }
        },
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            "plaintext": "Information theory is the scientific study of how information can be quantified, stored, and communicated efficiently. It's fascinating to read the version of the book I have as the author (and Claude Shannon, the father of information theory) all viewed everything as telephonic or telegraphic. Pierce mentions computers a handful of times, but often only to describe what they are incapable of doing[^1]."
          }
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            "plaintext": "Much of the content regards speech and how we can predict, transmit, and describe it. It appears to be primarily based on probability theory, and for good reason -- if you know that E appears 13% of the time and Z appears almost never, you can make asusmptions about how you code letters by assigning easily transmitted values for common symbols and more complex values for infrequent symbols."
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            "plaintext": "The primary reason I'm reading it is for the applications to financial markets. A lot of the reason why information theory came about was because there was a need for sophisticated signal processing techniques during World War II. Signal processing is something commonly applied to finance. Trades indicate resources, desire, risk tolerance, what have you -- but there's also a lot of noise. How do you tell people who are informed from people who are uninformed? How do you know whether a trade is actually meaningful to the long-term price of the stock?"
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            "plaintext": "Dunno. Thought I'd read about it though."
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            "plaintext": "References"
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                    "uri": "https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/an-introduction-to-information-theory_john-robinson-pierce/294512/?mkwid=sbM6YJYtB%7cdc&pcrid=70112900832&pkw=&pmt=&plc=&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpcLZBRCnARIsAMPBgF28X1wNo0AKYjuBEjeeBKTk73gnywqwZUJWQFnZ9DQwigTTOEG7_R8aArg3EALw_wcB#isbn=0486240614&idiq=3821805",
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            "plaintext": "*An Introduction to Information Theory* by John R. Pierce."
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            "plaintext": "[^1]: He calls them \"automata\", which is such a lovely old-timey phrase."
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```

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