Putting noise in its place
DOI: 10.1063/PT.3.4536
Roland Wittje’s informative article “Noise: From nuisance to research subject ” (Physics Today, February 2020, page 42) shows how the concept of noise in physical systems has evolved and proliferated, from its origins in 19th-century studies of acoustics, to a general notion of unwanted fluctuations across a swath of disciplines extending well beyond the borders of physics. The proverb “one person’s noise may be someone else’s signal” suggests a concise, general, and likewise proverbial definition: Noise is information out of place.
That formulation, of course, paraphrases a celebrated observation by William James, 1 about certain “elements of the universe” being “irrelevance and accident—so much ‘dirt,’ as it were, and matter out of place,” which was explored in depth by Mary Douglas. 2
References
1. W. James, The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature, Longmans, Green (1902), p. 133.
2. M. Douglas, Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo, Routledge (1966).
More about the authors
John Morgan, (morganjohn@earthlink.net) La Cañada Flintridge, California.
