Bifalgorithm post · Brisk · Chapter 1

Is a bit abstract or concrete, and discrete or continuous?

Is a bit abstract or concrete, and discrete or continuous? (Brisk · Chapter 1) — "A bit in a computer’s memory. Would you call it abstract, or concrete? Discre…

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A bit is discrete, but its abstractness or concreteness depends on the sense being discussed.
A bit is clearly discrete rather than continuous.
The physical transistor and capacitor holding a charge are concrete.
The value “1” as part of the computer’s executing state is abstract.
This abstract value is conceptual, like the number 27.
The book consistently uses the abstract sense of bits.

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Is a bit abstract or concrete, and discrete or continuous?

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Brisk

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"A bit in a computer’s memory. Would you call it abstract, or concrete? Discrete, or continuous? Clearly it’s discrete. Abstract vs. concrete, though, is a little tricky. If we’re talking about the actual transistor and capacitor that’s physically present in the hardware, holding a tiny charge in some little chip, then it’s concrete. But if we’re talking about the value “1” that is conceptually part of the computer’s currently executing state, then it’s really abstract just like 27 was. In this book, we’ll always be talking about bits in this second, abstract sense."

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