You Already Understand Binary

Stop not understanding it, please

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

This is a dumb post to write, but at least it’s not about AI.

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Okay, so, here’s how normal-ass numbers work. Take 536 as an example.

That’s the same thing as:

\((5 * 100) + (3 * 10) + (6 * 1) = 536\)

Which is the same thing as:

\((5 * 10^2) + (3 * 10^1) + (6 * 10^0) = 536\)

Our normal number system is a base-10 number system, and any number in a base-N number system (ours is 10! We use N=10! Remember that!) can be converted into a base-10 number¹ by following these rules:

1. Take each digit, from left to right

2. Multiply it by N^i

   1. N is the base of the number system²

   2. i is how many digits remain to the right of the given digit³

3. Add it to the total

4. You’re done

5. Stop following this list

   1. No good can come of it

Okay, so basically, binary is a Base 2 number system.

Take 1011 for example.

\((1 * 2^3) + (0 * 2^2) + (1 * 2^1) + (1 * 2^0) = 11\)

And they said it couldn’t be done.

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You now know everything you need to know to understand binary.

Never let anybody impress you with this ever again.

1. Read: normal number. Friendly number. A companion in the dark. A symbol indicating 35.

2. We typically use 10!

3. In base 10, you sly dog.