Re: TI-H: mind vs. computer

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Re: TI-H: mind vs. computer


David Knaack wrote:
> 
> >Okay here's a question to ponder... If you were to convert the storage
> >space of the human mind to GB how much do you believe it would be?

It may be vast, but remember that not everything that gets filed away up
there necessarily stays intact. About 85% of everything is either
forgotten over time or is partially corrupted. It'd be like using a hard
drive with bad sectors. I'd rather have a real hermetically sealed piece
of magnetic medium than have a huge drive that loses 85% of what I store
on it :))

-Gabe


> Vast, no doubt.  I am sure that it varies by individual.  People
> with 'photographic' memory no doubt store huge amounts of info.
> Some can pick up a book, scan the pages (without reading), then
> later recall each page and read it from the memory image. It is
> intresting to note that people with this 'total recall' ability
> are usually notably lacking in spatial abilities, and vice versa.
> Apparently the same area of the brain is used for these abilites,
> and cannot handle both at extreme levels.  Most of us fall somewhere
> inbetween.
> 
> In the case of scanning a page of text, which can be recalled
> and read at a later time, the individual has in some way stored
> at least 50k of information, perhaps as much as 300k.  I'd be
> suprised if it was not stored in such a way that the repetive
> information was not compressed in some fasion.  Perhaps studies
> of the way the brain stores information will improve our video
> and image compression routines.
> 
> I'd put the total storage of the average brain easily above a
> terabyte.  However the reliability of the storage is quite different.
> Image information stored near, say, the entire encyclopdia Britanica
> would probably be difficult to recall as easily as before the
> encyclopida was there (unless it was a frequently used image,
> in which case portions of the encyclopida would likely be fuzzy).
> 
> DK
> 
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