The CPU heartbeat
These days CPUs run on 2 to 4 GHz frequency processors. It means that a processor gets 2 to 4 times 109 clock signals to do something every second. A processor cannot do any atomic operation faster than this, and also there is no reason to create a clock that is faster than what a processor can follow. It means that a CPU performs a simple operation, such as incrementing a register in half or quarter of a nanosecond. This is the heartbeat of the processor, and if we think of the bureaucrat as humans, who they are, then it is equivalent to one second, approximately, if and as their heartbeat.
Processors have registers and caches on the chip on different levels, L1, L2, and sometimes L3; there is memory, SSD, disk, network, and tapes that may be needed to retrieve data.
Accessing data that is in the L1 cache is approximately 0.5ns. You can grab a paper that is on your desk—half of a second. L2 cache is 7ns. This is a paper in the drawer. You have to push the chair a bit back...
