Structured complexity refers to the fact that complex systems can be constructed from very simple components, in a series of levels of increasing complexity. The step from one level to the next can be fairly simple, but by continuing through a number of levels, great complexity can be achieved. Even though the system as a whole is very complex, however, the structure allows the system to be understood. The computer is an excellent example of structured complexity. Data, as it is represented in a computer, also exhibits structured complexity.
All data is formed, ultimately, from bits.
Bits are combined to make numbers and characters. Numbers and characters are combined to represent more complex data such as dates, words, sounds, and so on. After studying logic circuits and the construction of xComputer, you should have a greater appreciation of what that means. Write an essay discussing, first, what it means to say that computation is mechanical and, second, what evidence you have seen that the operation of a computer is mechanical. A symbol is something that is meaningless in itself, but that can have some sort of externally assigned meaning.