# Usefulness Is Not My Main Goal by Claude Shannon > "I do what comes naturally, and usefulness is not my main goal. I like to solve new problems all the time. I keep asking myself, How would you do this? Is it possible to make a machine to do that? Can you prove this theorem? These are my kind of problems. Not because I am going to do something useful." > **— 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. xxxiv. This is Shannon’s complete closing answer about remaining carefree. ## 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 do what comes naturally, and usefulness is not my main goal. I like to solve new problems all the time. I keep asking myself, How would you do this? Is it possible to make a machine to do that? Can you prove this theorem? These are my kind of problems. Not because I am going to do something useful." — Claude Shannon, Anthony Liversidge interview, Omni, August 1987 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-claude-shannon-usefulness-not-main-goal ```