Unveiling the Unexpected: New Discoveries on the Speed of Human Thought

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Researchers have finally measured the brain’s maximum processing speed for human thoughts, a breakthrough that explains why humans can only handle one thought at a time.

The sensory systems of the human body, encompassing the eyes, ears, skin, and nose, collect information about our surroundings at the astonishing rate of one billion bits per second.

Nevertheless, studies reveal that the brain interprets these signals at a mere 10 bits per second – a rate millions of times slower than the sensory inputs.

A bit is the fundamental unit of information in computing, with a standard Wi-Fi connection processing approximately 50 million bits per second.

The brain consists of over 85 billion neurons, with a significant portion dedicated to advanced thinking, residing in the more evolved cortex region of the brain’s outer layer.

Researchers reviewed existing scientific research on human activities such as reading, writing, playing video games, and solving Rubik’s Cubes, determining that humans think at a speed of 10 bits per second – a figure they describe as “exceptionally low.”

The results were published in the journal Neuron last week.

“At every moment, we are extracting only 10 bits from the trillion that our senses are absorbing, utilizing those 10 to understand our environment and make choices,” stated research co-author Markus Meister.

“This gives rise to a conundrum: what processes does the brain utilize to filter out this vast amount of information?” Dr. Meister remarked.

Single nerve cells within the brain are recognized as potent information processors, more than capable of transmitting over 10 bits per second of data.

However, the current findings imply that they do not aid in processing thoughts at such elevated speeds, rendering humans relatively sluggish in thought processes and unable to manage multiple thoughts simultaneously.

This hinders situations like a chess player visualizing a series of future moves, restricting individuals to exploring one possible sequence at a time instead of several concurrently.

The identification of this “speed limit” enigma within the brain necessitates further research in neuroscience, according to scientists.

Scientists theorize that this speed limit likely arose in the earliest animals with a nervous system.

These organisms probably utilized their brains primarily for navigation, allowing them to seek food and evade predators.

As human brains evolved from these basic systems to navigate pathways, it is conceivable that we can only follow one “path” of thought at a time in a similar manner, researchers suggest.

“Our ancestors selected an ecological niche where the pace of the world was slow enough to enable survival,” they stated.

“Indeed, the 10 bits per second are only necessary in critical scenarios, and most of the time, our surroundings shift at a considerably slower speed,” scientists express.

The results imply that machines may ultimately surpass humans in any task they presently fulfill, as their computing power doubles every two years.

“Hence, the debate over whether self-driving cars will achieve human-level performance in traffic appears somewhat outdated: roads, bridges, and intersections are all constructed for beings that process at 10 bits/sec,” scientists conclude.

“By that time, humans will likely be advised to avoid these ecological niches, just as snails ought to steer clear of highways,” they observe.