From: jimruttshow8596
Exformation is a concept introduced by Danish science writer Tor Nørretranders, which describes the vast amount of information that is implicitly understood and unstated in communication, rather than explicitly transmitted in bits [00:47:20]. It refers to the high-dimensional context and background knowledge shared between communicators, allowing a minimal amount of explicit “information” to convey a rich “state of mind” [00:50:59].
Origin of the Concept
Nørretranders developed the concept of exformation after encountering an anecdote about the shortest correspondence in history involving French writer Victor Hugo [00:47:51]. After finishing his book Les Misérables, Hugo, on vacation, sent a letter to his publisher consisting solely of a question mark (?) [00:48:36]. The publisher understood this to mean, “How is my book doing?” [00:48:44]. After checking sales and reviews, the publisher replied with only an exclamation mark (!) [00:48:57].
This exchange, despite having “very few bits” of explicit data, was “very meaningful communication” [00:49:06]. It succeeded because of the pre-existing shared context and understanding between Hugo and his publisher [00:50:27]. Hugo compressed all his worries about the book’s success into a single symbol, and the publisher compressed extensive sales data and reviews into another [00:50:01].
Exformation vs. Information
Traditional information theory often focuses on the number of bits transferred through communication channels [00:49:41]. However, Nørretranders argues that to truly understand communication, one must also consider the “amount of information that it provokes in the recipient’s brain” and the “amount of information that is condensed into the first message” [00:49:52]. Exformation is the information that was “explicitly thrown away” or not expressed directly, but is crucial for effective understanding [00:50:41].
Indeed, all communication involves “a little information being exchanged and a lot of exformation being produced” [00:50:59]. The sender compresses a complex “state” into a symbol, and the receiver unfolds that symbol back into a “state of mind” [00:51:10].
Application in Communication and Media
This concept applies broadly to human communication:
- Literary Fiction: Reading a book, particularly literary fiction, makes the reader a “co-creator of the content” [00:52:09]. A skilled novelist uses fewer words but more accurately “assume[s] what they can depend upon” in the reader’s exformation [00:51:51]. Homer’s Iliad, for example, used very simple Greek words that were mutually understandable across dialects, relying on the audience’s shared cultural context to evoke powerful emotions and understanding [00:53:13].
- Modern Media: In contrast, modern media like films and movies, with their rapid pace and abundance of visual and auditory information, leave less opportunity for the audience to “co-create or co-produce or coinvent the story” through their own exformation [00:52:31].
The idea that “the text of Shakespeare is not enough to create the theater performance” highlights that the explicit elements are only a fraction of the total experience, requiring significant unstated context to come alive [00:46:44].
Broader Implications
The concept of exformation extends to the broader environment and human well-being. Modern society is often characterized as an “Information Society” where people feel overwhelmed by data [01:03:41]. However, Nørretranders argues that the opposite is true: modern life is increasingly “emptied of information,” particularly analog information [01:03:57].
- Environmental Information: Natural environments like a wilderness are “very rich in information” but “difficult to conceptualize and understand” [01:04:33]. Human civilization, through processes like converting wilderness into cornfields or cities, significantly reduces this environmental complexity [01:04:46]. A typical American suburb, for example, is described as “devoid of information” and “uninspiring” [01:05:20].
- Human Experience: This reduction in environmental information leads to a “craving information” that is often unsatisfactorily sought from smartphones [01:05:41]. True joy and satisfaction come from interacting with complex, unpredictable elements that are “not our own project,” such as wilderness, other species, and especially other human beings [01:06:05]. Advanced civilization, by removing annoying or irritating things, has inadvertently reduced the “dimensionality of life,” leading to an absence of true happiness, which is distinct from the absence of unhappiness [01:06:47].