# The Question That Built Information Theory by Claude Shannon > "I was more motivated by curiosity. Never by the desire for financial gain. I just wondered how things were put together. Or what laws or rules govern a situation, or if there are theorems about what one can't or can do. Mainly because I wanted to know myself." > **— Claude Shannon**, *Anthony Liversidge interview, Omni, August 1987* ## Sources and Context - **Primary interview transcript:** [Anthony Liversidge, ‘Profile of Claude Shannon’](https://gwern.net/doc/cs/algorithm/information/1987-liversidge.pdf), *Omni*, August 1987, reprinted in *Claude Elwood Shannon: Collected Papers*, p. xxv. The earlier candidate retained only the middle sentence; the published Reminder restores the complete statement of Shannon’s motive. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/Bell Labs and the Distributed Architecture of American Power|Bell Labs and the Distributed Architecture of American Power]] - **Article:** [[articles/Information Persistence in Complex Systems|Information Persistence in Complex Systems]] - **Article:** [[articles/An Order of Operation|An Order of Operation]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Information Theory|Information Theory]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Claude Shannon|Claude Shannon]] - [[wiki/Information Theory|Information Theory]] - [[wiki/Bell Labs|Bell Labs]] - [[wiki/Machine Intelligence Intentionality|Machine Intelligence Intentionality]] - [[wiki/Machine Intelligence Continuum|Machine Intelligence Continuum]] ## Share on Social Media ``` "I was more motivated by curiosity. Never by the desire for financial gain. I just wondered how things were put together. Or what laws or rules govern a situation, or if there are theorems about what one can't or can do. Mainly because I wanted to know myself." — Claude Shannon, Anthony Liversidge interview, Omni, August 1987 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-claude-shannon-question-built-information-theory ```