Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Computer, Electronic Data Processor, Mathematics, Logic

Computation is only one of the many functions of what is commonly called a "computer".  A more accurate term is Electronic Data Processor, also applicable to some of the functions of the Smart Phone. Now, despite the contents that it processes being combinations of '0' and '1', the form of its Processing is not Mathematical, but Logical, i. e. combinations of Disjunction, Conjunction, and Negation, with Mathematical operations part of its contents. Further contributing to potential confusion is the equivalence in some Boolean Algebras of Disjunction and Conjunction to Addition and Multiplication, respectively, an equivalence easily undermined by the consideration that Multiplication is basically repeated Addition, whereas And and Or are in no such relation.  So, given the pervasiveness and frequency of the use of EDPs these days, contemporary life is more under the guidance of Logic than it appears to be.

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