Shannon's Information Theory and The I-Ching The I-Ching's relationship with information theory reveals fascinating parallels in how meaning emerges from binary patterns. Just as Claude Shannon showed how information could be encoded in binary digits and meaningful signals extracted from noise, the I-Ching uses binary lines of yin and yang to encode fundamental patterns of change. The traditional yarrow stalk probabilities (3/16 for changing yang, 5/16 for stable yang, 7/16 for stable yin, and 1/16 for changing yin) create a sophisticated information system where both stable and changing states contribute to meaning extraction. Like a signal processing system that tunes to specific frequencies within noise, the I-Ching consultation process acts as a decoder that extracts relevant patterns for any given situation. The querent's question serves as a tuning mechanism, focusing the seemingly random coin or yarrow throws into meaningful hexagram patterns. This mirrors Shannon's insights about how context and proper decoding mechanisms are essential for extracting signals from noise. In this light, the I-Ching can be seen as an ancient yet sophisticated pattern recognition system that uses binary states to decode meaningful signals from the apparent randomness of life circumstances.