system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How are vector illustrations not based on pixels if our screen is made up of pixels?

From my understanding, a pixel is the smallest distinguishable unit on a digital monitor. So how can a vector not be pixel based? Isn't everything that's on our screen made up of pixels? So even if we're using a software like Adobe Illustrator, isn't a vector line made up of a bunch of small pixels in actuality?
gpt
>So even if we're using a software like Adobe Illustrator, isn't a vector line made up of a bunch of small pixels in actuality?

The vector itself is just a bit of math saying "A line exists between point A and point B".  The resulting line is *displayed* using pixels, but the underlying mathematical representation means that you can display the same vector on a higher-resolution screen, and it would fully take advantage of the higher resolution by being drawn with more pixels.  

If the image itself were stored as pixels, then showing it on a higher resolution monitor would just make the image smaller, and not more detailed.