Signal vs Noise

Signal vs. noise is a concept used across many fields—like engineering, statistics, data science, and even everyday reasoning. It describes the ability to distinguish meaningful information from irrelevant, less important or misleading information.

To be effective in analysis or judgment, you must maximize your attention to signal and minimize your response to noise.

Signal

The signal is the meaningful, relevant, or true information you’re trying to detect or measure.

In a dataset, it’s the pattern or trend that reflects reality or something useful.

Noise

Noise is the random variation, error, or irrelevant data that obscures or distorts the signal.

It includes anything that doesn’t help explain or predict the outcome you’re interested in.