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  3. I live the chaos, but I don't understand it :(

I live the chaos, but I don't understand it :(

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  • 0 0x01AA

    I have to use up the unused vacation for 2023. I usually use this as an opportunity to do a little further training. At the end of this year 2023, I have decided to finally understand the term entropy in information technology to the end. But I fail once again:( All I can confirm so far is the statement of 'John von Neumann' (John von Neumann - Wikipedia[^]) to Claude Shannon - Wikipedia[^] : “You should call it entropy. […] Nobody knows what entropy really is, so in a debate “You will always have the advantage.” :sigh: :laugh: [Edit] Btw. any idea which forum here is ok to ask questions about that theme? [Edit1] Now I think it becomes out of 'lounge'disussion, sorry for that. Still I'm looking for a place where one can disuss that. I'm pretty shure that @KornfeldEliyahuPeter can help me of this ;)

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    Amarnath S
    wrote on last edited by
    #7

    0x01AA wrote:

    Nobody knows what entropy really is

    As a Mechanical Engineer by education, I can only say that Second Law of Thermodynamics dictates that the entropy of the Universe is continuously increasing, dS > 0.

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    • A Amarnath S

      0x01AA wrote:

      Nobody knows what entropy really is

      As a Mechanical Engineer by education, I can only say that Second Law of Thermodynamics dictates that the entropy of the Universe is continuously increasing, dS > 0.

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      0x01AA
      wrote on last edited by
      #8

      But there is a limit to this? Something like 2.58###

      1 Reply Last reply
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      • 0 0x01AA

        I have to use up the unused vacation for 2023. I usually use this as an opportunity to do a little further training. At the end of this year 2023, I have decided to finally understand the term entropy in information technology to the end. But I fail once again:( All I can confirm so far is the statement of 'John von Neumann' (John von Neumann - Wikipedia[^]) to Claude Shannon - Wikipedia[^] : “You should call it entropy. […] Nobody knows what entropy really is, so in a debate “You will always have the advantage.” :sigh: :laugh: [Edit] Btw. any idea which forum here is ok to ask questions about that theme? [Edit1] Now I think it becomes out of 'lounge'disussion, sorry for that. Still I'm looking for a place where one can disuss that. I'm pretty shure that @KornfeldEliyahuPeter can help me of this ;)

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        jschell
        wrote on last edited by
        #9

        As a suggestion attempting to learn one part of a system of study well, probably is always going to require that one learns more about the system that contains it first. So study information theory first.

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        • J jschell

          As a suggestion attempting to learn one part of a system of study well, probably is always going to require that one learns more about the system that contains it first. So study information theory first.

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          0x01AA
          wrote on last edited by
          #10

          Quote:

          So study information theory first.

          I would say 'Shannon's' therorie about Entropy is exactly that very basic theory ;)

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          • 0 0x01AA

            Thank you for this. I read a lot, but I'm stumbling again and again. E.g: from here https://www.physik.uni-wuerzburg.de/fileadmin/11030300/_imported/fileadmin/tp3/ThermoEDynamik/Entropie.pdf[^]

            Quote:

            Da man mit n Bits bekanntlich 2^n verschiedene Bitmuster bilden kann, ist sofort klar, dass ein System mit 2^n Zuständen mit einer n-Bit-Datei vollständig beschrieben werden kann, so dass in diesem Fall H=n is

            For me nothing is clear... :( Especally that one can describe e.g. the 2^8 conditions in an 8 bit file. But most probably this is a lack of my understanding

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            Jo_vb net
            wrote on last edited by
            #11

            I'm sure you understand it (but you do not know that)! Wortbreite 8 Bit Bereiche mit Vorzeichen -128 ~ 127 Bereich ohne Vorzeichen 0 ~ 255 2^8 = 256 and 1 to 256 you can define with 8 bit as shown above with 0 to 255. Now you should know that you already knew that :-D

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            • J Jo_vb net

              I'm sure you understand it (but you do not know that)! Wortbreite 8 Bit Bereiche mit Vorzeichen -128 ~ 127 Bereich ohne Vorzeichen 0 ~ 255 2^8 = 256 and 1 to 256 you can define with 8 bit as shown above with 0 to 255. Now you should know that you already knew that :-D

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              0x01AA
              wrote on last edited by
              #12

              I think , I'm very save with binary numbers. But again translated by google, I don't get the point on that:

              Quote:

              Since it is well known that 2^n different bit patterns can be formed with n bits, it is immediately clear that a system with 2^n states can be completely described with an n-bit file, so that in this case H=n

              How one can desribe 256 condistions in a file with one byte? I'm pretty sure I have a problem understanding the article, but I'm also very happy if somebody can explain what I'm missinterpreting ;)

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              • 0 0x01AA

                I have to use up the unused vacation for 2023. I usually use this as an opportunity to do a little further training. At the end of this year 2023, I have decided to finally understand the term entropy in information technology to the end. But I fail once again:( All I can confirm so far is the statement of 'John von Neumann' (John von Neumann - Wikipedia[^]) to Claude Shannon - Wikipedia[^] : “You should call it entropy. […] Nobody knows what entropy really is, so in a debate “You will always have the advantage.” :sigh: :laugh: [Edit] Btw. any idea which forum here is ok to ask questions about that theme? [Edit1] Now I think it becomes out of 'lounge'disussion, sorry for that. Still I'm looking for a place where one can disuss that. I'm pretty shure that @KornfeldEliyahuPeter can help me of this ;)

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                B Offline
                BobbyStrain
                wrote on last edited by
                #13

                There is a simple equation that defines entropy. Chemical Engineers make use of the term to describe the behavior of substances. We use it, for example, to evaluate the performance of a steam turbine. It has been misused by zealous promoters to obfuscate information.

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                • B BobbyStrain

                  There is a simple equation that defines entropy. Chemical Engineers make use of the term to describe the behavior of substances. We use it, for example, to evaluate the performance of a steam turbine. It has been misused by zealous promoters to obfuscate information.

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                  0 Offline
                  0x01AA
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #14

                  And that simple equation is?

                  B 1 Reply Last reply
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                  • 0 0x01AA

                    I think , I'm very save with binary numbers. But again translated by google, I don't get the point on that:

                    Quote:

                    Since it is well known that 2^n different bit patterns can be formed with n bits, it is immediately clear that a system with 2^n states can be completely described with an n-bit file, so that in this case H=n

                    How one can desribe 256 condistions in a file with one byte? I'm pretty sure I have a problem understanding the article, but I'm also very happy if somebody can explain what I'm missinterpreting ;)

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                    J Offline
                    Jo_vb net
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #15

                    A file with one byte can describe how many states a system has (state value 1 or 2 or ... 256). If you want describe 256 states you need 256 * 8 bit.

                    1 Reply Last reply
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                    • 0 0x01AA

                      I have to use up the unused vacation for 2023. I usually use this as an opportunity to do a little further training. At the end of this year 2023, I have decided to finally understand the term entropy in information technology to the end. But I fail once again:( All I can confirm so far is the statement of 'John von Neumann' (John von Neumann - Wikipedia[^]) to Claude Shannon - Wikipedia[^] : “You should call it entropy. […] Nobody knows what entropy really is, so in a debate “You will always have the advantage.” :sigh: :laugh: [Edit] Btw. any idea which forum here is ok to ask questions about that theme? [Edit1] Now I think it becomes out of 'lounge'disussion, sorry for that. Still I'm looking for a place where one can disuss that. I'm pretty shure that @KornfeldEliyahuPeter can help me of this ;)

                      0 Offline
                      0 Offline
                      0x01AA
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #16

                      Now I think it becomes out of 'lounge'disussion, sorry for that. Still I'm looking for a place where one can disuss that. I'm pretty shure that @KornfeldEliyahuPeter can help me of this ;)

                      1 Reply Last reply
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                      • 0 0x01AA

                        Thanks for this. My usual problem is they state 'the probability is this and that' but no explanation why it is ;)

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                        Gary Stachelski 2021
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #17

                        In the case of the video, the probabilities were made up to create two different machines. They then went on to illustrate how you could calculate the information entropy for each machine to compare them. The machine with the lower calculated entropy was more predictable Or better organized. The higher the calculated entropy the more disorganized a system is, so it is harder to predict what the output of the next cycle will be.

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                        • B BobbyStrain

                          There is a simple equation that defines entropy. Chemical Engineers make use of the term to describe the behavior of substances. We use it, for example, to evaluate the performance of a steam turbine. It has been misused by zealous promoters to obfuscate information.

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                          jschell
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #18

                          Been a while but I don't think that is the same thing as entropy in information theory. But perhaps are related.

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                          • 0 0x01AA

                            And that simple equation is?

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                            B Offline
                            BobbyStrain
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #19

                            [4.6 Entropy - University Physics Volume 2 | OpenStax](https://openstax.org/books/university-physics-volume-2/pages/4-6-entropy)

                            0 1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • 0 0x01AA

                              I think , I'm very save with binary numbers. But again translated by google, I don't get the point on that:

                              Quote:

                              Since it is well known that 2^n different bit patterns can be formed with n bits, it is immediately clear that a system with 2^n states can be completely described with an n-bit file, so that in this case H=n

                              How one can desribe 256 condistions in a file with one byte? I'm pretty sure I have a problem understanding the article, but I'm also very happy if somebody can explain what I'm missinterpreting ;)

                              B Offline
                              B Offline
                              BernardIE5317
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #20

                              my understanding is that a system at any particular moment is in a state . a single state . of course a system can not be in more than one state at any moment unless of course we are discussing Quantum Mechanics which of course we are not i presume . if it is known the system can be in any state of 256 possible states then at any moment only 8 bits are required to specify that state . QED

                              0 J 2 Replies Last reply
                              0
                              • 0 0x01AA

                                I have to use up the unused vacation for 2023. I usually use this as an opportunity to do a little further training. At the end of this year 2023, I have decided to finally understand the term entropy in information technology to the end. But I fail once again:( All I can confirm so far is the statement of 'John von Neumann' (John von Neumann - Wikipedia[^]) to Claude Shannon - Wikipedia[^] : “You should call it entropy. […] Nobody knows what entropy really is, so in a debate “You will always have the advantage.” :sigh: :laugh: [Edit] Btw. any idea which forum here is ok to ask questions about that theme? [Edit1] Now I think it becomes out of 'lounge'disussion, sorry for that. Still I'm looking for a place where one can disuss that. I'm pretty shure that @KornfeldEliyahuPeter can help me of this ;)

                                B Offline
                                B Offline
                                BernardIE5317
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #21

                                video below gives a nice explanation of entropy in information theory . Information entropy | Journey into information theory | Computer Science | Khan Academy - YouTube[^]

                                0 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • B BernardIE5317

                                  my understanding is that a system at any particular moment is in a state . a single state . of course a system can not be in more than one state at any moment unless of course we are discussing Quantum Mechanics which of course we are not i presume . if it is known the system can be in any state of 256 possible states then at any moment only 8 bits are required to specify that state . QED

                                  0 Offline
                                  0 Offline
                                  0x01AA
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #22

                                  Thank you very much!

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • B BernardIE5317

                                    video below gives a nice explanation of entropy in information theory . Information entropy | Journey into information theory | Computer Science | Khan Academy - YouTube[^]

                                    0 Offline
                                    0 Offline
                                    0x01AA
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #23

                                    Thank you!

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • B BobbyStrain

                                      [4.6 Entropy - University Physics Volume 2 | OpenStax](https://openstax.org/books/university-physics-volume-2/pages/4-6-entropy)

                                      0 Offline
                                      0 Offline
                                      0x01AA
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #24

                                      Thank you!

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • 0 0x01AA

                                        I have to use up the unused vacation for 2023. I usually use this as an opportunity to do a little further training. At the end of this year 2023, I have decided to finally understand the term entropy in information technology to the end. But I fail once again:( All I can confirm so far is the statement of 'John von Neumann' (John von Neumann - Wikipedia[^]) to Claude Shannon - Wikipedia[^] : “You should call it entropy. […] Nobody knows what entropy really is, so in a debate “You will always have the advantage.” :sigh: :laugh: [Edit] Btw. any idea which forum here is ok to ask questions about that theme? [Edit1] Now I think it becomes out of 'lounge'disussion, sorry for that. Still I'm looking for a place where one can disuss that. I'm pretty shure that @KornfeldEliyahuPeter can help me of this ;)

                                        D Offline
                                        D Offline
                                        Daniel Pfeffer
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #25

                                        Entropy is an attempt to give a macroscopic number that describes a large number of microscopic states. Taking the "classic" deck of cards, there is only 1 way of arranging the cards in suit order (Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades) in increasing order in each suit (2, 3, ..., J, Q, K, A). We take the log of the number of states, and the entropy is 0. If the suits can be in any order, we have 4! possibilities, with an entropy of log(4!). If the cards are in the order red-black-red-black, we have 26! * 26! possibilities, with an entropy of 2*log(26!). If the cards can be in any order, we have 52! possibilities, with an entropy of log(52!). This is also the maximum entropy for the card system. Each of the different ways to arrange the cards in the above examples is called a "micro-state". In physics/chemistry we usually multiply the entropy calculated above by Bolzman's constant, to fit it in with other units such as temperature, energy, etc. The connection to information theory comes from the fact that the lower the entropy of the system, the easier it is to predict the next card.

                                        Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.

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                                        0
                                        • D Daniel Pfeffer

                                          Entropy is an attempt to give a macroscopic number that describes a large number of microscopic states. Taking the "classic" deck of cards, there is only 1 way of arranging the cards in suit order (Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades) in increasing order in each suit (2, 3, ..., J, Q, K, A). We take the log of the number of states, and the entropy is 0. If the suits can be in any order, we have 4! possibilities, with an entropy of log(4!). If the cards are in the order red-black-red-black, we have 26! * 26! possibilities, with an entropy of 2*log(26!). If the cards can be in any order, we have 52! possibilities, with an entropy of log(52!). This is also the maximum entropy for the card system. Each of the different ways to arrange the cards in the above examples is called a "micro-state". In physics/chemistry we usually multiply the entropy calculated above by Bolzman's constant, to fit it in with other units such as temperature, energy, etc. The connection to information theory comes from the fact that the lower the entropy of the system, the easier it is to predict the next card.

                                          Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.

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                                          0x01AA
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #26

                                          Thank you very much for your answer. I will go through the card deck example and hope I will understand it in detail. Anyway statements like

                                          Quote:

                                          Entropy is an attempt to give a macroscopic number that describes a large number of macroscopic states.

                                          makes it hard to understand. What exactly 'macroscopic' and 'macroscopic' means....

                                          D 1 Reply Last reply
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