ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Stone–von Neumann theorem

Okay, so imagine you have a very special machine that can do lots of different calculations and give you answers. This machine is really useful because you can program it to do different things and it will always work in the same way every time. This is called a computer.

Now, the stone–von neumann theorem basically says that you can make a really basic computer that is just as powerful as any other fancy computer as long as it has certain important parts. These parts are called the central processing unit (CPU), the memory, and the input and output devices.

The CPU is like the brain of the computer. It does all the calculations and tells the other parts what to do. The memory is like a big notebook that the computer writes things down in so it can remember them later when it needs to. The input and output devices are like the computer's eyes and ears. They help the computer get information from the outside world and show the computer's results to people.

So, if you have a basic computer with these parts, you can use it to do all sorts of things like play games, write documents, and even do really complicated math problems. This is amazing because it means that even a really simple computer can do almost anything a more complicated computer can do. And that, my little friend, is the stone–von neumann theorem!