As we grow older we learn about additional mathematical operations, like exponentiation and sine, but we also learn to describe rules of computation. Given a circle of radius r , its circumference is r times two times pi . A minimum-wage laborer who works for N hours earns N times 5.35 dollars. The truth is, our teachers turn us into computers and program us to execute simple computer programs. So, the secret is out.
Computer programs are just very fast students.
They can perform millions of additions while we might still be struggling with the first one. But computer programs can do more than just manipulate numbers. They can guide an airplane. They can play games. They can look up a person's phone number.