#95 Claude Shannon

There is value in rethinking Claude Shannon. But not in the way we'd imagine. Consider him not only as a distant forefather of the digital era, but But as one of the great creative generalists of the twentieth century. Not solely as someone who laid the foundation of the information age.

But as someone who trained a powerful intellect on topic of deep interest. And continue to do so beyond the point of short term practicality. What can we learn from that, Claude Shannon? For one thing, Shannon's body of work is

is a useful corrective to our era of unprecedented specialization. His work is wide ranging in the best sense, and perhaps more than any twentieth century intellect of comparable stature. He resists easy categorization. Was he a mathematician? Yes.

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