Compressing a set of hash values

34 · John Cook · Jan. 9, 2026, 1:09 p.m.
Summary
The post discusses whether it's possible to compress a set of hash values into fewer bits than they're originally stored. It emphasizes that while compressing a list of hashes is not feasible, hashing a set can yield fewer bits. The author provides an example involving a set of approximately a million 64-bit hashes, hinting at practical considerations in the domain of hash compression.