I’ve never understood binary code (don’t worry, this is not a post about binary code, at least I don’t think it will be).
I’ve asked several people over the years how computers work; from the early key cards, to the smartphone I’m typing this on. It’s a fascinating feat of technology I’d like to understand. Every time I’ve asked the question, I’ve gotten an almost flippant response of, “It’s just ones and zeroes.” I ask them to explain what that means, to which I get a disjointed attempt which pauses abruptly. I can see the wheels turning in their mind and they’ve always had to back up, and try again from a different angle. It’s quickly revealed the speaker is either poor at communicating the information they possess, or they don’t understand it as well as they thought they did. Here is an oft cited principle I’ve come to count on:
If you cannot explain it to others in simple terms, you don’t fully understand it yourself.
It’s generally attributed to Einstein or his contemporaries, but even he couldn’t boil down some of his complex theoretical concepts for undergraduate mathematicians, much less for you and I. Still, it’s a good principle for reminding us of when it’s prudent to speak up, and when we should keep our mouths shut.
I can look at a binary clock and figure out what is says. What I want to know is how this:
001 001110 010 0101 0001 01100
becomes this:
or this:
or even this:
Maybe I’ll never understand it, but I like to think that someday, given the right presentation, it will make perfect sense. Writer C.S. Lewis was a master of this by the way. Surely there is a C.S. Lewis version of a computer operating system designer out there? I’m no genius, but I’m not a simpleton either.
Just for fun, here are a few other topics I’d like to understand:
The British parliamentary system
HTML
Butchering game
The avionics of an Apache helicopter
Wiring a generator to a home
The Peloponnesian War
I can explain difficult topics – even to my youngest children – like war and love, racism, French history, computer drive storage capacity, the NFL playoff seeding etc…all day long because I understand them.
I sort of understand guns. I know enough about them to store them, load them and fire them. I wouldn’t be able to teach about them, because my knowledge is superficial; just enough to make sure nobody around gets dead when I’m using them. The same goes for vehicle repair and any number of other topics.
We study, we learn, we broaden our understanding of the world around us to the point we become knowledgeable. What we do with that is a big question mark. If we want to impart it to others, we better know what we’re talking about, and learn how to communicate efficiently. If we don’t, then the wealth of information we’ve so painstakingly aquired, becomes merely ones and zeroes to others.