1-Bit Brainpower: What is the Limit of 1% Effort?
Dear readers. Do you remember how I explained in the following note that in the concept of binary logical operations, the states that can be represented by 1 bit are true (1) or false (0)?
Even a 1-bit representation like this is extremely useful; a light switch in the on position can be represented as 1 (ON), and the off position as 0 (OFF).
In recent IoT (Internet of Things) applications, a large number of sensors are used. In the case of sensors, for example, even a scenario where 1 (open) is triggered when a person stands in front of an automatic door and 0 (closed) when no one is there can be controlled with 1 bit. Such simple control can be achieved with any type of sensor, whether it is an infrared sensor that can only detect ON and OFF, a microwave sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, or a weight sensor.
There are various types of weight sensors, but for example, if you use a weight sensor that reacts to 1g for automatic door control, it would malfunction just from a gust of wind, so they are usually adjusted to switch on only when something weighing 25kg or more is placed on them.
As the JoJo fans who are avid readers of this note have already noticed, Formaggio's Stand, Little Feet, slashed Narancia, making him too small to trigger the weight sensor, right? Narancia's Stand name is Aerosmith, but for those who like Western music, when it comes to Aerosmith, the song ♬Crazy by the band Aerosmith, which has won four Grammy Awards, is excellent. The following YouTube video with over 600 million views is incredibly popular, even more so than the 200 million views for Kyary Pamyu Pamyu.
Those reading this note for the first time might be surprised, but digressing into topics like anime and music is a feature of this note, and avid readers look forward to the digressions, thinking, "I wonder when they'll go off-topic?".
By the way, the childish question of 'please answer with yes or no' is also an OR condition of 1 OR 0, with 1 (yes) and 0 (no). The answer to 'Do you have any data to back that up?' can also be expressed with a 1-bit OR condition as 1 (yes/exists) or 0 (no/none).
So, what about 'That's just your opinion, isn't it?'? Even this can be expressed with 1 bit as 1 (Yes, that is my opinion) or 0 (No, it is based on objective data).
As you can see, 1 bit allows for basic Q&A and simple control, but even single-celled organisms like mold and bacteria process a surprisingly vast amount of information. Insects have nervous systems that react to sound, light, stimuli, carbon dioxide, etc., so they perform far more advanced information processing than single-celled organisms.
So, what can you do with 2 bits? Let's recall the combinations that can be expressed with 2 bits from the previous explanation. That's right. With 2 bits, the following four types of expressions were possible.
Q. Is your answer A or B?
00: Neither A nor B. 01: It is A. 10: It is B. 11: Both A and B.
As shown, 2 bits can express more information than 1 bit. Now,
how many different expressions are possible with 4 bits, which is double 2 bits?
0000: Neither item A, B, C, nor D is selected. 0001: Only item A is selected. 0010: Only item B is selected. 0011: Items A and B are selected. 0100: Only item C is selected. 0101: Items A and C are selected. 0110: Items B and C are selected. 0111: Items A, B, and C are selected. 1000: Only item D is selected. 1001: Items A and D are selected. 1010: Items B and D are selected. 1011: Items A, B, and D are selected. 1100: Items C and D are selected. 1101: Items A, C, and D are selected. 1110: Items B, C, and D are selected. 1111: Items A, B, C, and D are all selected. As you can see, 4 bits (a half-byte) can express 16 different states. I explained in the previous talk that this half-byte can be expressed as a single unit in hexadecimal using 16 characters from 0 to F.
However, with only 4 bits, you can only express a limited number of control symbols. To express these, 8 bits (1 byte), which is twice 4 bits, were created.
Since I already explained last time that 8 bits can express 256 patterns (2 to the 8th power), if you don't understand this explanation, you might understand it by reading the explanation of
Sets and Logical Operations for Elementary School Students: The Importance of Application and Understanding in Modern Society
.
There are many types of kanji, but with 16 bits, which is twice 8 bits, you can express 65,535 characters, so this is enough to express many kanji, hiragana, and even katakana.
In short, to only put in "1% effort" is like saying you are only using 1 bit of brainpower. Such a dismissive attitude toward the world will not foster any real thinking ability, and you will likely end up with less logical capacity than a single-celled organism. This can be called a typical characteristic of the sophistry of dualists.
Alternatively, a comparison with a toilet seat lid might also be effective. The state of a toilet seat lid can be expressed as 1 (open) or 0 (closed). However, since Hiroyuki's logical operations can only process OR conditions, they fall far short of the functions of an advanced Washlet. There are various types of Washlets, but for example, the TOTO Washlet or LIXIL (INAX) Shower Toilet installed in the public restrooms at Akihabara Station are equipped with a variety of features, including multi-stage water pressure adjustment, cleaning position adjustment, various move-cleaning modes, as well as heated seats, seat sensors, deodorizing functions, automatic nozzle cleaning, and power-saving features. Therefore, it can be said that these systems achieve far more advanced control than Hiroyuki's logical operations.
To put it simply, Hiroyuki's logic is not only far inferior to mold, but it can only understand logic that is even worse than a simple inorganic toilet cleaning machine.
By the way, TOTO reminded me, all you JoJo fans know about the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure characters Oingo and Boingo, right? And you know about Boingo's Stand, Khnum? In ancient Egyptian mythology, there is Thoth, the god of wisdom, but Thoth is not included in standard tarot cards (though Thoth is sometimes included in the occult enthusiast-famous Aleister Crowley edition of tarot cards. Actually, I'm quite knowledgeable about that area too). So, wouldn't you think that when someone says TOTO, they are referring to the American rock band TOTO, without needing any explanation?
TOTO is very famous for ♬ Africa, isn't it?
The American new wave band Oingo Boingo's ♬ Only a Lad, ♬ Little Girls, ♬ Dead Man’s Party, and ♬ Weird Science are probably famous in Japan too, but Oingo Boingo's songs are actually quite good.
As you can see, this blog's specialty is being able to bring the conversation around to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, even starting from a 1-bit topic.
Rintaro Takechi