What is a computer thinking when it works?

A computer does not think in the human sense: it has no private stream of ideas or feelings. It follows encoded instructions, representing information as patterns of binary digits—zeros and ones. Inside its processor, vast numbers of tiny electronic switches combine those patterns into calculations, comparisons, memory changes and screen images.

One key press can trigger a surprisingly long chain: identify the key, fetch a rule, move data, update a document, and redraw part of the display. The CPU performs elementary operations at astonishing speed, so piles of small, exact actions can look like one smooth and clever response.