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# Bridging the Distance in Problem Space
- URL: https://www.bramadams.dev/202307072221/
- Published: 2023-07-08T02:33:52.000Z
- Updated: 2024-02-19T23:15:57.000Z
- Description: How CPUs actually move through the problem and solution space
- Author: Bram Adams
- Tags: computation, tbd

The capacity to **read, write, decode, and execute** one clock cycle at a time allows a CPU to effectively bridge the gap between state transitions in the problem space ([202306222324](https://bram-adams.ghost.io/202306222324?ref=bramadams.dev)). The CPU's ability to **jump** enables it to move to different states conditionally, without having to pass through each one individually. This results in a tree-like leap from one section of the potential solution space to another (this is all within the set of repeatable problems, R). By **looping**, CPUs are able to pass data back and forth between two states until we accumulate enough information for a transition.

## **Reading, Decoding, Writing, Executing**

Challenges in the set of reading, decoding, writing, and executing include: **substituting old data with new**, **comprehending a massive amount of data**, **responding upon encountering a specific type of data**, and **modifying data** to your heart's content.

### Coffee Shop Example

Consider a situation at a coffee shop. You **read** the menu and **decode** the prices in your head. You mentally calculate the balance in your bank account (or, if it's on credit, you skip this step), and then you **execute** your decision by selecting the coffee you want and asking the barista to place your order. The barista **decodes** your order, **enters** it into the point of sale machine, and begins preparing the order once the credit card company **reads** the request, **checks** your account balance, **compares** the two numbers (decode + execute), and finally returns a positive or negative response. All these steps occur almost instantly and are partially carried out in the human brain and databases at the store and at the bank.

## **Jumping And Looping**

Challenges in the set of jumping and looping include: **making significant decisions** that drastically alter the resultant execution based on decoded input, and **repeating the same action multiple times** to achieve an accumulation result.

Consider the example of exercising to get in shape. You go to the gym. You don't want to overwork your muscle groups, so you perform enough **repetitions** on one machine to gain strength, and then you **jump** to the cardio section to exercise there while resting your recently worked muscle group.

Breathing provides an even simpler example of **looping**. If you stop breathing, that's a critical problem. Recall that a problem represents a desire and a state. Not breathing is an undesirable state to be in. If you're still alive, your body will do everything in its power to **restart the breathing loop** and restore homeostasis, up to and including: gasping, wheezing, seizing the lungs, etc.

These **universal tools** are not only shared among specific use cases; they are universal because they can be applied to any conceivable problem <> solution situation.

Our brains and bodies also engage in reading raw input, decoding it, then conditionally **jumping or looping**, **executing** the resulting thought process, and finally **recording** the outcome in memory for future feedback loops.

Just like us, CPUs also perform these tasks, one clock cycle at a time!

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