2.1-2.4, due on January 10

      The most difficult part of this sections reading was understanding the implication statement.  This is a statement formed from two given statements.  In this one, the statement is expressed "If P, then Q."  It was not clear what this statement meant at all.  I had to talk myself through developing a truth table in English as follows:

"If true, then true" is true.

"If true, then false" is false.

"If false, then true" is true.

"If false, then false" is true.

Looking at this truth table now, I know that I am repeating informations given by the implication statements themselves but it helped me to understand the idea.  After understanding this idea better, I continued on in the reading which confirmed that the understanding I had developed by myself was correct.

      Having had some experience with computer programming I can see the importance of understanding principles of logic.  When I saw the truth tables for one, two and three statements written out in Figure 2.1, it was exciting to think of all the potential outcomes of truth tables for large numbers of statements.  I understand a little better now how computers can become very powerful logic machines by having a large number of switches combined in different combinations.