--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In order to figure out how to make atoms…" description: "\"In order to figure out how to make atoms compute, you have to learn how to speak their language and to understand how they process information under no..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/seth-lloyd-13748_atoms_in-order-to-figure-out-how-to-make-atoms_2947222.jpg" --- # In order to figure out how to make atoms compute, you have… ![“In order to figure out how to make atoms compute, you have to learn how to speak their language and to understand how they process information under normal circumstances.” quote by Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/seth-lloyd-13748_atoms_in-order-to-figure-out-how-to-make-atoms_2947222.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/seth-lloyd-13748_atoms_in-order-to-figure-out-how-to-make-atoms_2947222.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/seth-lloyd-13748_atoms_in-order-to-figure-out-how-to-make-atoms_2947222.jpg) > “In order to figure out how to make atoms compute, you have to learn how to speak their language and to understand how they process information under normal circumstances.” [Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding atomic computation requires learning the language of atoms and how they naturally process information, implying a need to study their intrinsic behavior. **In simple terms:** Learn atomic language to make atoms compute. Key Takeaway Study natural atomic processes to harness computation. Themes computing physics fundamentals Mood curious technical Type scientific innovative When to use this quote - research labs - technology development - education Key Concepts quantum information material science Questions to Reflect On - How can we translate atomic interactions into usable code? - What natural processes can inspire computing? A Different Perspective Complexity of atomic behavior may limit practical applications. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atoms/) [Compute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compute/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) ## Related quotes > [We are the gods of the atoms that make up ourselves but we are also the atoms of the gods that make up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manly-hall/we-are-the-gods-of-the-atoms-that-make-up-ourselves-but-we-are-also/) [Manly Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manly-hall/) > [It took less than an hour to make the atoms, a few hundred million years to make the stars and planets, but five billion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gamow/it-took-less-than-an-hour-to-make-the-atoms-a-few-hundred-million/) [George Gamow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gamow/) > [Experimental work of great refinement is necessary in order to determine atomic weights. No relationships between them have yet been certainly found which make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-william-richards/experimental-work-of-great-refinement-is-necessary-in-order-to/) Theodore William Richards > [So friends, every day do something that won't compute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/so-friends-every-day-do-something-that-won-t-compute/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Not every child learns the same way. I could not learn through my eyes. Reading was impossible. Math, to compute it in my mind,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-winkler/not-every-child-learns-the-same-way-i-could-not-learn-through-my-eyes/) [Henry Winkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-winkler/) > [When someone dies instantly, then I think the well of grief and disbelief all mixed in with it is unfathomable. And when murder is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-buchan/when-someone-dies-instantly-then-i-think-the-well-of-grief-and/) [Andrew Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-buchan/) > [We've announced an Oracle Virtual Compute Appliance, a bunch of low-cost commodity servers running Linux, integrated in our case, with InfiniBand - connected with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-ellison/we-ve-announced-an-oracle-virtual-compute-appliance-a-bunch-of-low/) [Larry Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-ellison/) > [I think some people see me as being some kind of lovable, bumbling buffoon, and I'm actually quite mouthy and sharp, and that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-frost/i-think-some-people-see-me-as-being-some-kind-of-lovable-bumbling/) [Nick Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-frost/) > [What I'm really interested in is this idea of a 'brain co-processor' - a device that can record from, and deliver information to, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-boyden/what-i-m-really-interested-in-is-this-idea-of-a-brain-co-processor-a/) [Edward Boyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-boyden/) > [There will always be plenty of things to compute in the detailed affairs of millions of people doing complicated things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vannevar-bush/there-will-always-be-plenty-of-things-to-compute-in-the-detailed/) [Vannevar Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vannevar-bush/) > [I think what's really amazing is that given the scale of the web and getting the compute power we have today, we're starting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-mayer/i-think-what-s-really-amazing-is-that-given-the-scale-of-the-web-and/) [Marissa Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marissa-mayer/) > [The Flash could do everything twice as fast. Except you never saw him think twice as fast or speak twice as fast. Could he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ira-glass/the-flash-could-do-everything-twice-as-fast-except-you-never-saw-him/) [Ira Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ira-glass/) > [To be an artist means not to compute or count.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/to-be-an-artist-means-not-to-compute-or-count/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Abortion does not compute with my philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-mulgrew/abortion-does-not-compute-with-my-philosophy/) [Kate Mulgrew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-mulgrew/) > [What's done we partly may compute, But know not what's resisted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-burns/what-s-done-we-partly-may-compute-but-know-not-what-s-resisted/) [Robert Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-burns/) ## More by Seth Lloyd > [Every physical system registers information, and just by evolving in time, by doing its thing, it changes that information, transforms that information, or, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/every-physical-system-registers-information-and-just-by-evolving-in/) [Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) > [“The significance of a bit depends not just on its value but on how that value affects other bits over time, as part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/the-significance-of-a-bit-depends-not-just-on-its-value-but-on-how/) [Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) > [ \[With quantum computers\] you can calculate how many bits are in the universe, how much energy it takes to flip them, how much energy… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/with-quantum-computers-you-can-calculate-how-many-bits-are-in-the/) [Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) > [In this metaphor we actually have a picture of the computational universe, a metaphor which I hope to make scientifically precise as part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/in-this-metaphor-we-actually-have-a-picture-of-the-computational/) [Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) > [Yes, I am a quantum mechanic! Those darn quantum computers break all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/yes-i-am-a-quantum-mechanic-those-darn-quantum-computers-break-all/) [Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) > [What's happened with society is that we have created these devices, computers, which already can register and process huge amounts of information, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/what-s-happened-with-society-is-that-we-have-created-these-devices/) [Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) > [Meaning is like pornography, you know it when you see it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/meaning-is-like-pornography-you-know-it-when-you-see-it/) [Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) > [If you wanted to build the most powerful computer you could, you can't do better than including everything in the universe that's potentially available.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/if-you-wanted-to-build-the-most-powerful-computer-you-could-you-can-t/) [Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) > [There are considerable advantages to using many degrees of freedom to store information, stability and controllability being perhaps the most important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/there-are-considerable-advantages-to-using-many-degrees-of-freedom-to/) [Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) > [When it comes to their capacity to screw things up, computers are becoming more human every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/when-it-comes-to-their-capacity-to-screw-things-up-computers-are/) [Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) > [It's also a reasonable scientific program to look at the dynamics of the standard model and to try to prove from that dynamics that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/it-s-also-a-reasonable-scientific-program-to-look-at-the-dynamics-of/) [Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) > [Some folks think life and technology and mind can keep expanding forever. Others say it can't. We are still not clear on that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/some-folks-think-life-and-technology-and-mind-can-keep-expanding/) [Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) > [Of course, one way of thinking about all of life and civilization is as being about how the world registers and processes information. Certainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/of-course-one-way-of-thinking-about-all-of-life-and-civilization-is/) [Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) > [Programmed by quanta, physics gave rise first to chemistry and then to life; programmed by mutations and recombination, life gave rise to Shakespeare; programmed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/programmed-by-quanta-physics-gave-rise-first-to-chemistry-and-then-to/) [Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) > [Instead of having to be a member of the Royal Society to do science, the way you had to be in England in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/instead-of-having-to-be-a-member-of-the-royal-society-to-do-science/) [Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) [Explore all 49 Seth Lloyd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) ## More Atoms quotes > [If the polymer chain assumes a helicoidal conformation in the crystalline state, and if it does not contain asymmetric carbon atoms, it can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giulio-natta/if-the-polymer-chain-assumes-a-helicoidal-conformation-in-the/) Giulio Natta > [Physicist Isador Isaac Rabi, who won a Nobel Prize for inventing a technique that permitted scientists to probe the structure of atoms and molecules…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-saul-wurman/physicist-isador-isaac-rabi-who-won-a-nobel-prize-for-inventing-a/) [Richard Saul Wurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-saul-wurman/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [A monkey is unaware that atoms exist. Likewise, our brainpower may not stretch to the deepest aspects of reality. The bedrock nature of space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/a-monkey-is-unaware-that-atoms-exist-likewise-our-brainpower-may-not/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [ \[Decoding the human genome sequence\] is the most significant undertaking that we have mounted so far in an organized way in all of science.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-collins/decoding-the-human-genome-sequence-is-the-most-significant/) [Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-collins/) > [Though an atom is invisible, unthinkable, yet in it are the whole power and potency of the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/though-an-atom-is-invisible-unthinkable-yet-in-it-are-the-whole-power/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Traditional nationalism cannot survive the fissioning of the atom. One world or none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-chase/traditional-nationalism-cannot-survive-the-fissioning-of-the-atom-one/) [Stuart Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-chase/) > [I am not sure why, but I have been obsessed by the Atom Bomb ever since it first happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lanford-wilson/i-am-not-sure-why-but-i-have-been-obsessed-by-the-atom-bomb-ever/) [Lanford Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lanford-wilson/) > [History is the short trudge from Adam to atom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/history-is-the-short-trudge-from-adam-to-atom/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The dogma of the impossibility of determining the atomic constitution of substances, which until recently was advocated with such fervor by the most able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-korner/the-dogma-of-the-impossibility-of-determining-the-atomic-constitution/) Wilhelm Korner > [I have never seen what to me seemed an atom of proof that there is a future life. And yet-I am inclined to expect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-seen-what-to-me-seemed-an-atom-of-proof-that-there-is-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“An atom is mostly made up of empty space. If you remove the empty space from every atom, the entire world's human population could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/weike-wang/an-atom-is-mostly-made-up-of-empty-space-if-you-remove-the-empty/) [Weike Wang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/weike-wang/) > [Nature is full of wonders; every atom is a standing miracle, and endowed with such qualities, as could not be impressed on it by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/nature-is-full-of-wonders-every-atom-is-a-standing-miracle-and/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [ “\[Think\] of an experience from your childhood. Something you remember clearly, something you can see, feel, maybe even smell, as if you were really… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-grand/think-of-an-experience-from-your-childhood-something-you-remember/) [Steve Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-grand/) > [The books remind us that way down deep in our hearts, part of us knows that we are creatures of light and we cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/the-books-remind-us-that-way-down-deep-in-our-hearts-part-of-us-knows/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) [Browse all 852 Atoms quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atoms/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In order to figure out how to make atoms compute, you have to learn how to speak their language and to understand how they process information under normal circumstances.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Seth Lloyd" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/in-order-to-figure-out-how-to-make-atoms-compute-you-have-to-learn/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Atoms" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/in-order-to-figure-out-how-to-make-atoms-compute-you-have-to-learn/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/seth-lloyd-13748_atoms_in-order-to-figure-out-how-to-make-atoms_2947222.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/seth-lloyd-13748_atoms_in-order-to-figure-out-how-to-make-atoms_2947222.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/seth-lloyd-13748_atoms_in-order-to-figure-out-how-to-make-atoms_2947222.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In order to figure out how to make atoms compute, you have to learn how to speak their language and to…” — Seth Lloyd", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Seth Lloyd", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In order to figure out how...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/in-order-to-figure-out-how-to-make-atoms-compute-you-have-to-learn/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/in-order-to-figure-out-how-to-make-atoms-compute-you-have-to-learn/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```