Understanding the Advantages of Ternary Logic Over Boolean Logic

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Computers think in zeros and ones. But what if that’s not enough to describe reality? In this video, we take a look at three-valued logic - a system that introduces a third truth value: unknown.

It’s a concept that challenges centuries of binary thinking, from Aristotle’s Law of the Excluded Middle to George Boole’s algebra that became the foundation of every modern CPU.

Polish mathematician Jan Łukasiewicz was among the first to formalize this idea, introducing a logic that could handle uncertainty - statements that are not yet true, nor false.

Decades later, his ideas were used by Soviet engineers to build Setun, the world’s first ternary computer.

This video dives into the history, mathematics, and modern relevance of ternary logic - from Aristotle to Łukasiewicz, from Boolean circuits to SQL queries - and why this forgotten idea might still shape the future of computing.

Sources, transcript and more available on codeolences.com

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▶️ This video is part of a series called "The Weird and the Wired"

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Chapters:
00:00 Schrödinger’s Cat and Binary Thinking
01:33 The Basics of Digital Logic
02:47 Aristotle’s Law of the Excluded Middle
03:56 Łukasiewicz and Three Valued Logic
07:21 Sponsored Segment
08:23 Implementations of Three Valued Logic This video was sponsored by Brilliant.

Produced by Codeolences
Edited by Arjun Nyalpelly and Codeolences