Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery about human thought processing. Researchers at California Institute of Technology found that humans can process thoughts at a mere 10 bits per second, a rate that is significantly slower than the brain’s sensory systems which gather data at a billion bits per second.
This finding challenges long-held assumptions about human cognition and has significant implications for our understanding of how we think. The study used information theory techniques to analyze human behaviors such as reading, writing, video gaming, and solving Rubik’s Cubes to calculate the 10-bit-per-second figure.
The brain contains over 85 billion neurons, but individual neurons can transmit more than 10 bits per second, yet our overall thought process operates at a much slower rate. This discrepancy raises questions about how the brain filters all the information it receives.
The study also highlights that humans have a unique constraint: we can only think one thought at a time. Researchers suggest that this limitation may be rooted in our evolutionary history, where early creatures used their brains for navigation to survive. Our complex brains may have evolved from simple systems, leading us to follow a single path of thought.
This discovery has implications for futuristic scenarios, such as direct interfaces between human brains and computers. The 10-bit-per-second rate may limit the effectiveness of these technologies. However, the study suggests that our cognitive speed is well-suited to our environment, and in most cases, we can process information at a more leisurely pace.
The researchers propose that “human thinking can be seen as a form of navigation through a space of abstract concepts.” Their findings have sparked new questions about how we think and how our brains work.
Source: https://www.techspot.com/news/106080-human-thought-crawls-10-bits-second-caltech-study.html