Comment brain!=verbatim (Score 1) 518
dunno if this has been mentioned yet (i'm not going to read all those messages :)
while it may be possible (eventually) to come up with an approx. figure of bytes per X amount of brain (probably varies throughout the same brain), that only reveals the total amount of raw data it can hold, not the total sum of the memories we can recall.
eg. we can remember what someone looks like (or at least recognise them again at a later date) without needing to store a high-res bitmap image of their face.
Results can also be calculated using existing information that may have previously seemed unrelated (unlike computers, humans are able to Think). Suddenly, we're in possession of data that we didn't need to acquire from an external source. This new information doesn't need to be stored in long-term memory either - it can be recalculated again when required.
without this "brain compression" we would not be able to store nearly as much.
while it may be possible (eventually) to come up with an approx. figure of bytes per X amount of brain (probably varies throughout the same brain), that only reveals the total amount of raw data it can hold, not the total sum of the memories we can recall.
eg. we can remember what someone looks like (or at least recognise them again at a later date) without needing to store a high-res bitmap image of their face.
Results can also be calculated using existing information that may have previously seemed unrelated (unlike computers, humans are able to Think). Suddenly, we're in possession of data that we didn't need to acquire from an external source. This new information doesn't need to be stored in long-term memory either - it can be recalculated again when required.
without this "brain compression" we would not be able to store nearly as much.
