We've all seen it on TV: the lone teen hacker (haxor? h4x0r?) sitting in the basement, hacking into the mainframe. In twenty minutes. On a whim. While juggling chainsaws. On top of a unicycle.

Because, you know…they're just that smart.

We've got a little secret to share with you: nobody is that smart. Not even T.J. Henderson. Computers are complex machines coded by millions—literally millions—of minds. They aren't about to be broken by one gifted unicycler.

So how did we get to this point where people actively believe that the lone child prodigy can magically outsmart a group of seasoned computer science PhDs? Maybe it's all those Home Alone movie marathons on ABC Family, or maybe it's because most people don't understand how computers work.

Let's get one thing straight, though. When we say computer, we mean an electronic machine that can receive, process, and output information. From that definition, we get machines like

• self-driving cars.
• websites that speak English (sometimes).
• Go-playing masters.
• watches that keep track of your every move. For science.

Computers are everywhere and if you don't understand how they work, you're going to fall for the same Hollywood-style fakery every time. Instead, find out a little about how things tick under the plastic casing and you'll be much more prepared to figure out everything down to the latest Smart Water Bottle.

For now, let's talk about what makes these pieces of software work—and why they aren't likely to break at the touch of a keyboard.

Even if chainsaw-juggling, super-balanced hacker manages to find it.

Go outside and spend a day without ever seeing or touching a computer. We dare you. Smart phones count, by the way. So does any product that starts with the word "smart," except for maybe SmartWater or Smarties.

You'd be pretty hard-pressed to spend a day without ever seeing a computer. But seeing how a computer works? You could probably spend a lifetime without thinking about that one.

Thing is: it's easy to roll your eyes when a friend or family member doesn’t know how to find those pictures they uploaded to their computer last week, but if you don't know the underlying functionality, you're probably going to become that person who can't even figure out where "ugly_sweater_party.jpg" got saved to, anyway. To function, you have to know how this stuff works so that you can

• sound like a knowledgeable tech-savvy person on an OKCupid date.
• know what you're getting when you decide on the green Lenovo all-in-one tablet instead of the blue Asus all-in-one phablet.
• maybe even get a job in this field. Who knows?

Take notes. You never know when they might save you from getting an eye-roll.