I asked myself the very same question recently. I used to think the brain could hold 900 Quadrillion Petabytes -- but now I think it's much, much less.
Consider this: Assume that every day you save 1 memory that's significant enough to remember; and this memory soon becomes fuzzy enough that you can't even recall all the exact words and visual details. This single memory could be easily stored with less than 20 Gigabytes. Multiply this by 365 days, and 70 years, and you arrive at 500 Terabytes. Add another 500 Terabytes for other stuff like skills, wisdom and logic and you have 1 Petabyte of brain memory, which is probably on the high side considering that most days in your life are boring and never remembered.
I don't think you can compare a human brain,or any brain to a computer.
The brain does lot's of things without you having to even think about it.
It knows when you need to sleep,wake up and eat and drink for example.
It can repair cuts and more serious things without you having to think about it.
It triggers emotional response.
No one will ever "build" the equivalent of the human brain in my opinion
@vendasaid I don't think you can compare a human brain,or any brain to a computer.
The brain does lot's of things without you having to even think about it.
It knows when you need to sleep,wake up and eat and drink for example.
It can repair cuts and more serious things without you having to think about it.
It triggers emotional response.
No one will ever "build" the equivalent of the human brain in my opinion
Anything can be compared; Mt. Everest can be compared to a banana if one chooses to.
In the subject at hand, we are dealing with memory. Whether digital or organic, it's still a form of memory no matter how weird and strange it is. If memory didn't exist then every morning you'd forget how to make your coffee or how to walk. So instead of just giving up we should be pondering how much memory it takes to make a cup of coffee. Yes, it may sound simple and silly, but it may just be the first step towards a whole new type of evolution.
@bunnyknightsaid Anything can be compared; Mt. Everest can be compared to a banana if one chooses to.
In the subject at hand, we are dealing with memory. Whether digital or organic, it's still a form of memory no matter how weird and strange it is. If memory didn't exist then every morning you'd forget how to make your coffee or how to walk. So instead of just giving up we should b ...[text shortened]... may sound simple and silly, but it may just be the first step towards a whole new type of evolution.
The brain can be "trained" to achieve results like making coffee and then the information stored in much the same way that you can programme a computer.
The problems arise when the brain forgets basic things like when dementia occurs.
I think we would be much better channelling our research into why these things happen than how much memory it takes
it seems to me that the brain is processing billions of bits of information every second
just scanning your environment requires huge numbers
until the day comes when a computer can build a human brain
it's the brain that wins the information storage war
@lemondropsaid it seems to me that the brain is processing billions of bits of information every second
just scanning your environment requires huge numbers
until the day comes when a computer can build a human brain
it's the brain that wins the information storage war
Considering the fact that portable digital devices can already perform calculations 50 trillion times faster than a human, we have definitely stumbled onto something big. Even digital information storage is in some ways far superior to any human brain. Now all we need is to figure out how to interface all that memory with all that processing power just like the brain does, and the human brain will become as obsolete as a washboard.
@vendasaid The brain can be "trained" to achieve results like making coffee and then the information stored in much the same way that you can programme a computer.
The problems arise when the brain forgets basic things like when dementia occurs.
I think we would be much better channelling our research into why these things happen than how much memory it takes
And that's what this whole new type of evolution would solve. A new type of brain completely free of all the drawbacks of an organic brain.
I think that it's been established that heavy meals poisoning can be linked to dementia ?
Is there a typo there Med's?
I presume you mean heavy metals poisoning.
I didn't know such a link had been established but I know you research these things.
My mum had dementia.
I can't think she was exposed to heavy metals in any great amount.
I think it was more to do with falling down and banging her head that set it off plus old age
no. simple computers can beat an expert at Jeopardy.
I guess it's possible that the limitation of the human brain is the speed at which they can assimilate new information vs. computers. But computers are way faster and more accurate at jeopardy and chess.
@lemondrop For now maybe, but memory technology is advancing at a very rapid rate and now, for instance, there is talk of PETA byte hard drives and the like and RAM grows every day.
Right now there is a slow down in chip production due to shortage of silicon for chips. Not because Silicon is rare, it is one of the most abundant elements on Earth but Covid messed up production of chips.
I think the brain records everything we see and hear and read etc.
We just don't have the ability to recall all of that info.
Old memories just pop into your brain even after decades of forgetting about it.
Just a theory of course.
how much information can the human brain hold?
14 Jul '21 23:43
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