Scientists have finally measured the brain’s speed limit in processing human thoughts, revealing that humans can only think one thought at a time due to its slow processing speed of about 10 bits per second. This rate is significantly slower than the inputs from sensory organs, which gather data at a billion bits per second.
The discovery has significant implications for our cognitive abilities and how we process information. While individual nerve cells in the brain can transmit information rapidly, the collective processing power of the human brain is much slower due to its complex structure.
This “speed limit” paradox raises questions about why humans are unable to process multiple thoughts simultaneously, unlike machines that can handle vast amounts of data with ease. Researchers believe this slow processing speed may have evolved as an adaptation to our environment, allowing us to focus on one task at a time and make decisions based on the information we receive.
The findings suggest that human brains have optimized their processing power for specific tasks, such as navigation, and that our ability to process information is influenced by our surroundings. This has far-reaching implications for fields like autonomous vehicles, where machines may soon outperform humans due to their faster computing capabilities.
Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/brain-human-thought-speed-caltech-b2668818.html