Claude Elwood Shannon quotes

Claude Elwood Shannon was an American mathematician and electrical engineer, widely regarded as the father of information theory. His groundbreaking work laid the foundation for digital circuit design and modern telecommunications. He profoundly influenced the fields of computer science, cryptography, and artificial intelligence. Here are 8 of his quotes:

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.' (Claude Elwood Shannon)
We know the past but cannot control it. We control the future but cannot know it. View quote
Claude Elwood Shannon
A few first rate research papers are preferable to a large number that are poorly conceived or half-finished. The latter are no credit to their writers and a waste of time to their readers. View quote
Claude Elwood Shannon
Information is the #resolution of uncertainty. View quote
Claude Elwood Shannon
I visualize a time when we will be to robots what dogs are to humans, and I'm rooting for the machines. View quote
Claude Elwood Shannon
Omni: Will robots be complex enough to be friends of people? Shannon: I think so. I myself could very easily imagine that happening. I see no limit to the capabilities of machines. As microchips get smaller and faster, I can see them getting better than we are. I can visualize a time in the future when we will be to robots as dogs are to humans. [...] Omni: Do you find it depressing that chess computers are getting so strong? Shannon: I am not depressed by it. I am rooting for the machines! I have always been on the machines' side. Ha-ha! View quote
Claude Elwood Shannon
Information: the negative reciprocal value of probability. View quote
Claude Elwood Shannon
I just wondered how things were put together. View quote
Claude Elwood Shannon