4.1 Information theory and digital communication fundamentals

Ultimate Machine Clarke Sir Arthur C. Shannon Claude There is a machine that can be described as follows:

When you throw the switch, there is an angry, purposeful buzzing. The lid slowly rises, and from beneath it emerges a hand. The hand reaches down, turns the switch off, and retreats into the box. [...] The psychological effect, if you do not know what to expect, is devastating. There is something unspeakably sinister about a machine that does nothing—absolutely nothing—except switch itself off.

This is Arthur C. Clarke's 1958 account of his encounter with the Ultimate Machine as it sat on Claude Shannon's desk at Bell Labs Clarke (1974).¹ Minsky Marvin Other objects on that desk probably included the keys to the digital revolution of which Shannon is considered a founder. The on-off switch …