HEC monogram
Memorandum № 1 H = −Σ pᵢ log₂ pᵢ After C. E. Shannon, 1948

HIGH ENTROPY CONTENT

A manifesto for saying something new.
000The measure
1948

I think we should all aim to create High Entropy Content.

In 1948, Claude Shannon needed a way to measure information. His answer: information is surprise. A message carries information only if you couldn't have predicted it. If you knew what was coming, it told you nothing. He called the measure entropy:

H = −Σ pi log₂ pi

A coin that always lands heads tells you nothing. A fair coin gives you one full bit per toss. The less predictable the source, the more it says.

Yes, pure noise has maximum entropy and zero value. Surprise only counts when your audience can decode it. So the target is the most surprise they can still absorb.

001The problem

Now look at what we call content.

  • Panels where five smart people agree for an hour.≈ 0.00 BITS
  • Keynotes restating what the audience walked in believing.≈ 0.00 BITS
  • Videos summarizing videos summarizing a paper nobody read.≈ 0.00 BITS
  • Guests chosen because they won't cause trouble.≈ 0.00 BITS

That's low-entropy content. You could have predicted every sentence, so it carries almost nothing, no matter how good it looks.

010The claims

Six claims about information

001 / I / NOVELTY

Entropy is novelty.

The value of your content is whatever your audience couldn't have predicted. Everything else is filler.

010 / II / REDUNDANCY

Agreement is compression.

If everyone on stage agrees, one speaker could have said it all. The other four seats are redundant.

011 / III / SIGNAL

Surprise is the signal.

If a talk is predictable from its title, nobody needed the talk. The title already delivered it.

100 / IV / FRICTION

Disagreement is a feature.

A panel is worth watching when at least one person thinks the others are wrong and says so.

101 / V / COST

Safety is expensive.

Every risk you remove takes bits with it. Content built to offend nobody ends up saying nothing.

110 / VI / THE TEST

Prediction is the test.

Before you publish, ask what your audience couldn't have guessed. That part is the content. The rest is packaging.

011Field test

If your audience saw it coming, you told them nothing.

So try this on the next thing you make. The talk, the panel, the video, the post: ask what's in it that they couldn't have guessed. Keep that part. Cut the rest.

HEC — High Entropy Content monogram

Say something new,
or say nothing.