## Procrustean Bed ### Procrustean Bed Why does the regular newspaper arriving at your doorstep have the same 40 pages? So everyday there is same amount of 'valuable information' worthy for the audience? Why cant some days when there is so much going on have like say, 100 pages. And why cant there be a day when there is just one page of important news? What it means by having 40 pages of news every day on a newspaper is having a mix of signal and noise to achieve 40 pages. The newspaper publishing process is similar to the metaphor of the Procrustean bed. For those not initiated, **Procrustes** was this dude from greek myth, son of [Poseidon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poseidon "Poseidon") with a stronghold on Mount Korydallos . There he had a bed, in which he invited every passer-by to spend the night, and where he set to work on them with his smith's hammer, to stretch them to fit. In later tellings, if the guest proved too tall, Procrustes would amputate the excess length trying to fit the body to the bed exactly according to its dimensions. The finer point which I am trying to make is that sending out a newsletter every week just for the sake of it, is again a **procrustean bed**. Why should I send you a weekly newsletter just for the sake of it? As a mental model, it's powerful in ensuring randomness in our day to day life.