Signal and Noise

A concept I can’t stop thinking about is signal and noise.

At first, I didn’t understand it. I kept asking myself, what is a signal, really? I read about it, thought about it, even banged my head against the wall wondering if I was just too stupid to get it. Then I realized two things.

First, my French had deceived me. “Signal” doesn’t mean quite the same thing. But more importantly, I was looking for something visible, a sign, a beacon, a flashing green light that says, this way. That was my mistake.

Signal isn’t a light. It’s a feeling.

It’s the moment your gut knows what your brain can’t explain yet. It’s intuition, alignment, clarity, the quiet certainty that you’ve found something real. Signal is the opposite of noise.

Noise is everything that pulls you away from that.

But here’s the thing, noise isn’t always obvious. It’s not just social media, mindless scrolling, or people talking too loud. Noise can also look like productivity. For me, noise was the constant need for instruction. The need to learn, to consume, to improve, until I drained all the pleasure out of it.

I love the Lex Fridman podcast. But at some point, it stopped being joy and became obligation. I had to listen. I had to finish. I had to get the lesson. And in that, I lost everything. No curiosity. No presence. Just noise.

The phrase signal vs. noise is often attributed to Steve Jobs, but the idea is older, and deeper. It’s a psychological truth.

We live in an ecosystem of noise, constantly trying to drown out our own signal. The noise seduces us with motion, stimulation, novelty, because it’s easier than silence. Silence demands awareness. And awareness is painful.

We’re not our own worst enemies by desire, but by design. Born into bodies that crave safety and validation, we often act against what’s best for us. So noise wins, the easy path, the path that doesn’t require risk or solitude.

But the signal is still there. It’s quiet, almost invisible. It doesn’t scream, it hums.

It’s the thought that returns to you again and again. The direction that feels right even when it makes no sense. The voice that says, keep going this way, even when the world tells you to stop.

Signal is the star without a shine, the one you have to trust without seeing. It’s not easy. It never will be. But it’s ours.

And that’s what makes it worth following.

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