0

If I am simply comparing two numbers and deciding which one is bigger is this logic considered a calculation? (2>1 = true)

What about other logic statements? What qualifies an operation as a calculation?

Xitcod13
  • 373
  • 1
  • 3
  • 6
  • 2
    This is a calculation because it involves logic gates (you are basically using a modified adder bit-by-bit). – Kenny Lau Apr 27 '17 at 09:30
  • @KennyLau That is what I was inclined to believe. I just want to be sure since definitions of calculation I found online are pretty vague. – Xitcod13 Apr 27 '17 at 09:33
  • 1
    How would you even check $2>1$? I think in quite some settings, you would compute $2-1 = 1$ and check if the result is bigger than zero. In this case it of course is a calculation, as it includes one. – Dirk Apr 27 '17 at 09:38
  • @Bemte alright so i have gotten into a long discussion and I am discussing evolution. I see how basic organisms (like bacteria) can compare where there is a higher gradient of food for example. I want to say that this is performing a calculation. This is where i realized I do not fully know what classifies as a calculation. I am pretty sure it does. Yet I want to be certain. Yea and bacteria would have to somehow check if x>y in a similar matter to 2-1 = 1. – Xitcod13 Apr 27 '17 at 09:54
  • Ok, this discussion might be complicated. Do bacteria (a single one of them) really desides to go to place A or to place B, or is it rather some stochastic process, they distribute equally to all places at first, but at places with more food, more of them stay/reproduce? So does a single bacteria really, consciously chooses where to go? However, this discussion would fit better in biology than here. :) – Dirk Apr 27 '17 at 10:07
  • @Bemte for sure that is why I simply wanted to know a definition of computation as a start haha. And I dont want to claim bacteria consciously chooses where to go. I want to make a claim that this bacteria makes a computation. :) your comment is extremely helpful in making me think about what a computation really means, thanks! – Xitcod13 Apr 27 '17 at 10:11

0 Answers0