What is Binary?
Binary is a numeric system which uses two numerals to represent all real numbers. While the most common counting system, the decimal system, uses ten numerals, binary uses only 0 and 1. Each digit in a binary number system therefore represents a power of two. The first digit on the right represents the 0th power, the second represents the 1st power, the third represents the 2nd power, and so on. So the number 1 in the decimal system is represented also as 1 in the binary system. The number 23, by contrast, is represented as 10111 (16+0+4+2+1). The decimal system makes perfect sense for human beings to use. We have ten fingers and ten toes, so when early humans began counting things they turned to these readily available markers. Later, when systems of counting became codified, it was natural to convert the already used decimal system to a representational system. Binary is also a fairly natural system, however, since many things either ‘are’ or ‘are not’. Many spiritualist traditions,
At its most general meaning, “binary” refers to any system composed of two elements. For example, a binary star system is a system in which there are two stars that orbit each other. Binary is also a numbering system that is comparable to our standard decimal system. The decimal system uses 10 digits; 0 through 9, and is referred to as a base-10 system. The binary system only has two digits, 0 and 1, so is referred to as a base-2 system.
