Compared to the slowest possible WiFi speed, human brains are ‘ridiculously slow’ with the ability to shift date at a rate of just 10 bits per second – which is not very much
Computers really are smarter than us slow-thinking humans. Eggheads found the human brain processes thoughts at only millionths of the speed at which info is transmitted over the internet.
California Institute of Technology boffinss assessed the speed of conscious thought by examining data on human behaviour such as reading, writing and solving Rubik’s cubes.
They worked out that humans think at a rate of 10 bits per second, which is a basic unit in computing, representing the smallest possible piece of data.
Experts said this was “ridiculously slow” compared to a typical wi-fi connection of 50million bits per second.
But they noted there was a “paradox” as the brain processes sensory information from sight, smell and noise much more rapidly. This is processed at about 100m times the rate of thinking, but the brain then “filters” out the important details needed for decision-making.
Dr Markus Meister, inset, and Jieyu Zheng said in the journal Neuron they were surprised by the findings, writing: “That number is ridiculously small compared to any information rate we encounter in daily life.
“We get anxious when the speed of the home Wi-Fi network drops below 100 megabits per second because that might compromise our enjoyment of Netflix shows.
“But even if we stay awake during the show, our brain will never extract more than 10 bits per second of that giant bitstream.”
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