if we highly restrict the parameters of what information we’re looking at, we then get a possible 10 bits per second.
Not exactly. More the other way around: that human behaviors in response to inputs are only observed to process about 10 bits per second, so it is fair to conclude that brains are highly restricting the parameters of the information that actually gets used and processed.
When you require the brain to process more information and discard less, it forces the brain to slow down, and the observed rate of speed is on the scale of 5-40 bits per second, depending on the task.
Not quite. Information always depends on context. It is not a fundamental physical quantity like energy. When you have a piece of paper with english writing on it, then you can read and understand it. If you don’t know the script or language, you won’t even be able to tell if it’s a script or language at all. Some information needs to be in your head already. That’s simply how information works.
You take in information through the senses and do something based on that information. Information flows into your brain through your senses and then out again in the form of behavior. The throughput is throttled to something on the order of 10 bits/s. When you think about it for a bit, you realize that a lot of things are predicated on that. Think of a video game controller. There’s only a few buttons. The interface between you and the game has a bandwidth of only a few bits.
So in other words - if we highly restrict the parameters of what information we’re looking at, we then get a possible 10 bits per second.
Not exactly. More the other way around: that human behaviors in response to inputs are only observed to process about 10 bits per second, so it is fair to conclude that brains are highly restricting the parameters of the information that actually gets used and processed.
When you require the brain to process more information and discard less, it forces the brain to slow down, and the observed rate of speed is on the scale of 5-40 bits per second, depending on the task.
Not quite. Information always depends on context. It is not a fundamental physical quantity like energy. When you have a piece of paper with english writing on it, then you can read and understand it. If you don’t know the script or language, you won’t even be able to tell if it’s a script or language at all. Some information needs to be in your head already. That’s simply how information works.
You take in information through the senses and do something based on that information. Information flows into your brain through your senses and then out again in the form of behavior. The throughput is throttled to something on the order of 10 bits/s. When you think about it for a bit, you realize that a lot of things are predicated on that. Think of a video game controller. There’s only a few buttons. The interface between you and the game has a bandwidth of only a few bits.