# Entropy · Concept > A measure of how unpredictable a text's next sign is, given what came before. Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts/CPT0DECVZZSAC8F/entropy Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) --- [Concepts](https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts)Entropy Concept · information theory · in 5 mysteries # Entropy A measure of how unpredictable a text's next sign is, given what came before. [Glozel: the inscribed tablets of the Fradin field](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/glozel)[Indus script](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script)[Voynich Manuscript](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript) The average information per sign, in bits: high for a text whose next sign is hard to guess, low for one that repeats itself. Measured at different orders (one sign at a time, pairs, triples) it describes how a text is built, and natural languages, ciphers, codes and random strings each fall in characteristic bands. The Voynich Manuscript's low second-order entropy is one of the hardest facts any account of it has to explain. ## Where it comes up **[Glozel: the inscribed tablets of the Fradin field](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/glozel)** A machine-readable transcription of Morlet's Corpus, with a sign list keyed to his 111 signs and Hitz's 80, would allow Crawford's 1977 test to be repeated on all the tablets with modern methods: sign-frequency… [Q: Do the Glozel signs form a writing system that records a language?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/glozel/questions/QST0DEDTPBXAPB0/do-the-glozel-signs-form-a-writing-system-that-records-a) **[Indus script](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script)** Conditional and block entropy of sign sequences separate writing from non-linguistic systems, and place the Indus signs with writing. [Conditional and block entropy of sign sequences separate writing from non-linguistic systems, and place the…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/answers/ANS0CWY3MNY6JC5/conditional-and-block-entropy-of-sign-sequences-separate)[Statistical measures applied to real non-linguistic systems cannot reliably separate them from writing, so…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3HGC6T4T/statistical-measures-applied-to-real-non-linguistic-systems)[The Indus corpus's conditional entropy sits with linguistic systems and away from the artificial extremes.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3MXR4DAF/the-indus-corpuss-conditional-entropy-sits-with-linguistic)[Conditional entropy of sign pairs lies in the range of natural-language scripts.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3G9A1MCY/conditional-entropy-of-sign-pairs-lies-in-the-range-of)[Sign-pair data used in the 2009 entropy analysis](https://mysteriesdept.com/datasets/DAT0CWY3R3A3K30/sign-pair-data-used-in-the-2009-entropy-analysis) **[Voynich Manuscript](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript)** The text is a natural language written phonetically in an invented alphabet or syllabary. [A real language in a new script](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/answers/ANS0D8GDH702MVA/a-real-language-in-a-new-script)[The departures from language are not layout effects](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/answers/ANS0DCBK9EC66BZ/the-departures-from-language-are-not-layout-effects)[Whatever the symbols are, the word sequence carries information the way a language's…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/answers/ANS0D8FZXDP5R7Z/whatever-the-symbols-are-the-word-sequence-carries)[Entropy law and word-order gain](https://mysteriesdept.com/methods/MTH08JFX9ZC4HW8/entropy-law-and-word-order-gain)[Codex structure and statistics (entropy, Zipf, word length, slot grammar, line effects, A/B keyness, labels)](https://mysteriesdept.com/methods/MTH08JFX6ST70NE/codex-structure-and-statistics-entropy-zipf-word-length-slot)[Glyph entropy is lower than in any of 103 languages](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/evidence/EVD0D8GDKDA0QEB/glyph-entropy-is-lower-than-in-any-of-103-languages) **[Pictish symbol stones](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols)** A calibrated entropy decision tree can classify small symbol corpora by type, and it shows the Pictish symbols are writing. [A calibrated entropy decision tree can classify small symbol corpora by type, and it shows the Pictish…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/answers/ANS0CQHAKFJ689W/a-calibrated-entropy-decision-tree-can-classify-small-symbol)[The 2010 entropy test classed the symbols with writing and not with random or heraldic systems.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/evidence/EVD0CQHAH986YQ0/the-2010-entropy-test-classed-the-symbols-with-writing-and)[Repetition-based and corrected entropy measures place the Pictish corpus with non-linguistic systems.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/evidence/EVD0CQHAJ8G1KCB/repetition-based-and-corrected-entropy-measures-place-the) **[Vinča signs](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vinca-signs)** Wu and colleagues encoded Winn's corpus precisely so that Vinča could serve as a known non-linguistic comparison for the Indus and Pictish entropy debates . [Q: Do the multi-sign Vinča sequences differ statistically from potters'-mark and emblem corpora of the same size?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vinca-signs/questions/QST0DEDW95HZ0YN/do-the-multi-sign-vinca-sequences-differ-statistically-from) ## Methods that use it 2 [Entropy law and word-order gain](https://mysteriesdept.com/methods/MTH08JFX9ZC4HW8/entropy-law-and-word-order-gain) Voynich Manuscript MTH [Codex structure and statistics (entropy, Zipf, word length, slot grammar, line effects, A/B keyness, labels)](https://mysteriesdept.com/methods/MTH08JFX6ST70NE/codex-structure-and-statistics-entropy-zipf-word-length-slot) Voynich Manuscript MTH ## Cite it ``` Mysteries Department. (2026). Entropy [Concept CPT0DECVZZSAC8F]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/CPT0DECVZZSAC8F ``` Key **CPT** 0DECVZZSAC8F Record Concept Field Information theory Related [Frequency analysis](https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts/CPT0DECVZZJW77N/frequency-analysis) · [Zipf's law](https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts/CPT0DECVZZZVP1M/zipfs-law) Version 2 Added by [apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo) [ Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q204570) **How this page is made.** The definition is the site's, in its own words. “Where it comes up” is read from the answers, methods and evidence that name the concept. Related concepts [Frequency analysis](https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts/CPT0DECVZZJW77N/frequency-analysis)[Zipf's law](https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts/CPT0DECVZZZVP1M/zipfs-law) The record Every record is open data. Take this one as JSON, with its links and its history. [JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/api/v1/records/CPT0DECVZZSAC8F)