--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: His lights blinked in binary read-out as…" description: "\"“His lights blinked in binary read-out as he answered by voder, “Eleven thousand two hundred thirty-eight with uncertainty plus-minus eighty-one repres..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90e/robert-a-heinlein-209_programming_his-lights-blinked-in-binary-read-out-as_2221316.jpg" --- # His lights blinked in binary read-out as he answered by… ![“His lights blinked in binary read-out as he answered by voder, “Eleven thousand two hundred thirty-eight with uncertainty plus-minus eighty-one representing possible identities and nulls. Shall I start program?” quote by Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90e/robert-a-heinlein-209_programming_his-lights-blinked-in-binary-read-out-as_2221316.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90e/robert-a-heinlein-209_programming_his-lights-blinked-in-binary-read-out-as_2221316.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90e/robert-a-heinlein-209_programming_his-lights-blinked-in-binary-read-out-as_2221316.jpg) > ““His lights blinked in binary read-out as he answered by voder, “Eleven thousand two hundred thirty-eight with uncertainty plus-minus eighty-one representing possible identities and nulls. Shall I start program?”” [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A character offers a precise, uncertain data point, highlighting computational limits and decision-making. **In simple terms:** Data can be precise yet uncertain. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty in calculations. Themes technology uncertainty decision-making Mood analytical cautious Type technical reflective When to use this quote - software design - space missions - risk assessment - data analysis Key Concepts information theory probability AI Questions to Reflect On - What does uncertainty imply for choices? - How to act with incomplete data? A Different Perspective Reliance on exact numbers may mislead. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Binary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/binary/) [Programming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/programming/) ## Related quotes > [I counted to ten slowly, using binary notation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-counted-to-ten-slowly-using-binary-notation/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [ Object-oriented programming aficionados think that everything is an object… this \[isn't\] so. There are things that are objects. Things that have state and change… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-stepanov/object-oriented-programming-aficionados-think-that-everything-is-an/) [Alexander Stepanov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-stepanov/) > ['Crazy Rich Asians' has been compared to 'Black Panther,' but I feel like that's a false equivalency. The idea that there's only this film…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonoya-mizuno/crazy-rich-asians-has-been-compared-to-black-panther-but-i-feel-like/) [Sonoya Mizuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonoya-mizuno/) > [“Belonging is one of the things that makes life bearable, and it can be tough to look at a binary world and choose against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/belonging-is-one-of-the-things-that-makes-life-bearable-and-it-can-be/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [I've never regretted not making Linux shareware: I really don't like the pay for use binary shareware programs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-torvalds/i-ve-never-regretted-not-making-linux-shareware-i-really-don-t-like/) [Linus Torvalds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-torvalds/) > [For too long, history has imposed a binary condition on its black citizens: either nameless or renowned, menial or exceptional, passive recipients of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-lee-shetterly/for-too-long-history-has-imposed-a-binary-condition-on-its-black/) [Margot Lee Shetterly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-lee-shetterly/) > [Coming out as non-binary has honestly been the best thing ever for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-flip/coming-out-as-non-binary-has-honestly-been-the-best-thing-ever-for-me/) [G Flip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-flip/) > [I'm someone that likes to not think too binary about human qualities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-thompson/i-m-someone-that-likes-to-not-think-too-binary-about-human-qualities/) [Tessa Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-thompson/) > [When I first started going out to lesbian clubs, I felt a very binary recreation of hetero culture. There are butches and femmes, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/when-i-first-started-going-out-to-lesbian-clubs-i-felt-a-very-binary/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [A lot of people still have the idea that drag goes from one end of the gender spectrum to the other end of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sasha-velour/a-lot-of-people-still-have-the-idea-that-drag-goes-from-one-end-of/) [Sasha Velour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sasha-velour/) > [Today, we've got what seems to me to be binary-choice politics: black and white, ones and zeros, either you are with me or against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-hoffman/today-we-ve-got-what-seems-to-me-to-be-binary-choice-politics-black/) [David E. Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-hoffman/) > [The simplest kind of decision is binary: that is, the question can be answered, in principle at least, by either yes or no.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-j-w-barber/the-simplest-kind-of-decision-is-binary-that-is-the-question-can-be/) [E. J. W. Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-j-w-barber/) > [“I live in a binary star system, my two suns being my two sons.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corrado-ghinamo/i-live-in-a-binary-star-system-my-two-suns-being-my-two-sons/) Corrado Ghinamo > [Any sufficiently crisp question can be answered by a single binary digit-0 or 1, yes or no.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/any-sufficiently-crisp-question-can-be-answered-by-a-single-binary/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [I don't think there's anything unique about human intellience. All the nuerons in the brain that make up perceptions and emotions operate in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/i-don-t-think-there-s-anything-unique-about-human-intellience-all-the/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) ## More by Robert A. Heinlein > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Ninety percent of all human wisdom is the ability to mind your own business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ninety-percent-of-all-human-wisdom-is-the-ability-to-mind-your-own/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [If we blow ourselves up we will do it by misapplication of science; if we manage to keep from blowing ourselves up, it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/if-we-blow-ourselves-up-we-will-do-it-by-misapplication-of-science-if/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Nor would anybody suspect. If was one thing all people took for granted, was conviction that if you feed honest figures into a computer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/nor-would-anybody-suspect-if-was-one-thing-all-people-took-for/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Women will forgive anything. Otherwise, the race would have died out long ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/women-will-forgive-anything-otherwise-the-race-would-have-died-out/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Most neuroses and some psychoses can be traced to the unnecessary and unhealthy habit of daily wallowing in the troubles and sins of five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/most-neuroses-and-some-psychoses-can-be-traced-to-the-unnecessary-and/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/no-statement-should-be-believed-because-it-is-made-by-an-authority/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“Some people are ants by nature; they have to work, even when it’s useless. Few people have a talent for constructive laziness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/some-people-are-ants-by-nature-they-have-to-work-even-when-it-s/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“The instinct to survive is human nature itself, and every aspect of our personalities derives from it. Anything that conflicts with the survival instinct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-instinct-to-survive-is-human-nature-itself-and-every-aspect-of/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“I tried to dig out of the computer a call directory for Luna. But it was still sulking. I could not get it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-tried-to-dig-out-of-the-computer-a-call-directory-for-luna-but-it/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“this has more aspects than a cat has hair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/this-has-more-aspects-than-a-cat-has-hair/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Never own more than you can carry in both hands at a dead run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/never-own-more-than-you-can-carry-in-both-hands-at-a-dead-run/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“In Wilson's scale of evaluations breakfast rated just after life itself and ahead of the chance of immortality." ~ By His Bootstraps / Robert A. Heinlein”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/in-wilson-s-scale-of-evaluations-breakfast-rated-just-after-life/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ignorance-is-curable-stupid-is-forever/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Explore all 888 Robert A. Heinlein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## More Binary quotes > [I don't think there's anything unique about human intellience. All the nuerons in the brain that make up perceptions and emotions operate in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/i-don-t-think-there-s-anything-unique-about-human-intellience-all-the/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Any sufficiently crisp question can be answered by a single binary digit-0 or 1, yes or no.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/any-sufficiently-crisp-question-can-be-answered-by-a-single-binary/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“I live in a binary star system, my two suns being my two sons.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corrado-ghinamo/i-live-in-a-binary-star-system-my-two-suns-being-my-two-sons/) Corrado Ghinamo > [The simplest kind of decision is binary: that is, the question can be answered, in principle at least, by either yes or no.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-j-w-barber/the-simplest-kind-of-decision-is-binary-that-is-the-question-can-be/) [E. J. W. Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-j-w-barber/) > [Today, we've got what seems to me to be binary-choice politics: black and white, ones and zeros, either you are with me or against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-hoffman/today-we-ve-got-what-seems-to-me-to-be-binary-choice-politics-black/) [David E. Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-hoffman/) > [ Object-oriented programming aficionados think that everything is an object… this \[isn't\] so. There are things that are objects. Things that have state and change… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-stepanov/object-oriented-programming-aficionados-think-that-everything-is-an/) [Alexander Stepanov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-stepanov/) > [A lot of people still have the idea that drag goes from one end of the gender spectrum to the other end of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sasha-velour/a-lot-of-people-still-have-the-idea-that-drag-goes-from-one-end-of/) [Sasha Velour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sasha-velour/) > [When I first started going out to lesbian clubs, I felt a very binary recreation of hetero culture. There are butches and femmes, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/when-i-first-started-going-out-to-lesbian-clubs-i-felt-a-very-binary/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [I'm someone that likes to not think too binary about human qualities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-thompson/i-m-someone-that-likes-to-not-think-too-binary-about-human-qualities/) [Tessa Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-thompson/) > [Coming out as non-binary has honestly been the best thing ever for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-flip/coming-out-as-non-binary-has-honestly-been-the-best-thing-ever-for-me/) [G Flip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-flip/) > [For too long, history has imposed a binary condition on its black citizens: either nameless or renowned, menial or exceptional, passive recipients of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-lee-shetterly/for-too-long-history-has-imposed-a-binary-condition-on-its-black/) [Margot Lee Shetterly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-lee-shetterly/) > [I've never regretted not making Linux shareware: I really don't like the pay for use binary shareware programs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-torvalds/i-ve-never-regretted-not-making-linux-shareware-i-really-don-t-like/) [Linus Torvalds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-torvalds/) > [“Belonging is one of the things that makes life bearable, and it can be tough to look at a binary world and choose against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/belonging-is-one-of-the-things-that-makes-life-bearable-and-it-can-be/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > ['Crazy Rich Asians' has been compared to 'Black Panther,' but I feel like that's a false equivalency. The idea that there's only this film…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonoya-mizuno/crazy-rich-asians-has-been-compared-to-black-panther-but-i-feel-like/) [Sonoya Mizuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonoya-mizuno/) > [Not all bodies are born in male or female. There is a continuum of bodies and it seems to me that trying to persuade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/not-all-bodies-are-born-in-male-or-female-there-is-a-continuum-of/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) [Browse all 135 Binary quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/binary/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“His lights blinked in binary read-out as he answered by voder, “Eleven thousand two hundred thirty-eight with uncertainty plus-minus eighty-one representing possible identities and nulls. Shall I start program?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. 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