recall when you built your information sending device. why did we decide to send a message as a sequence of two options rather than modifying our devices to represent more options?

The reason for deciding to send a message as a sequence of two options rather than modifying devices to represent more options is that using two options simplifies the process of encoding and decoding information. With a device that can only represent two options (like bending a straw in two directions), more complex messages can be sent as sequences or patterns of these two options. This approach is easier and more practical than creating a new or increasingly complex device for every new message or set of messages. For example, instead of bending a straw in four or eight different directions to represent four or eight options, the same two bending options can be repeated multiple times in sequence to create many different messages. This system is scalable and more efficient because it reuses the original two-option device to communicate more complex information through combinations and sequences. This foundation is key to how digital communication and computers represent complex information using only bits—simple binary patterns of two options (0 and 1)—which can encode vast amounts of data without the need for more complex physical devices for each possible message.