• News
    • Tech News
    • AI
  • Gadgets
    • Apple
    • iPhone
  • Gaming
    • Playstation
    • Xbox
  • Science
    • News
    • Space
  • Streaming
    • Netflix
  • Vehicles
    • Car News
  • Social Media
    • WhatsApp
    • YouTube
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
TikTok
Snapchat
WhatsApp
Submit Your Content
Scientists have measured the exact speed of human thought and the results are fascinating

Home> Science

Published 10:18 23 Dec 2024 GMT

Scientists have measured the exact speed of human thought and the results are fascinating

Are you really as quick as you think you are?

Tom Chapman

Tom Chapman

You might think of yourself as something of a Stephen Hawking, able to think faster than your friends and outsmart them with your lightning-fast intellect.

But, just how quick are you?

Scientists have now revealed the actual speed of human thought, and it turns out you might not be as nippy as you think.

As our brain collects data from our senses through receptors like our eyes and ears, it has to process what's going on.

Advert

TEK IMAGE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Getty
TEK IMAGE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Getty

Our brain has over 85 billion neurons, while around a third are dedicated to high-level thinking and sit in the developed cortex region of our outer brain.

According to the scientific journal Neuron, you really can only have one thing on your mind at a time because the human brain processes at 10 bits per second.

To put this into context, that's millions of times slower than the inputs.

Advert

Elsewhere, your average WiFi router runs processes at 50 million bits per second.

Scientists looked at previous research on human behaviors including everything from playing video games to solving Rubik's Cubes, deducing that our thinking speed is just 10 bits per second. They concluded that this number is 'extremely low'.

Discussing the findings, research co-author Markus Meister said: "Every moment, we are extracting just 10 bits from the trillion that our senses are taking in and using those 10 to perceive the world around us and make decisions.

"This raises a paradox: What is the brain doing to filter all this information?"

Advert

GSO Images / Getty
GSO Images / Getty

As nerve cells are known to be powerful processors that can transmit far more than 10 bits per second, the latest research suggests that the human brain is nowhere near as efficient. Researchers say that this 'speed limit' paradox needs to be studied further.

Elon Musk has promoted Neuralink by talking openly to Joe Rogan about the human brain's 'bandwidth problem', and as science evolves, he claims there's a genuine potential that we can unlock the power of the human mind.

For now, the idea that we can engage in infinite thoughts at the same time is referred to as a phenomenon known as 'the Musk illusion'. Meister and co-author Jieyu Zheng say that even if Musk could hook his brain up to a computer, he still wouldn't be able to communicate any faster.

Advert

Meister concludes: "We can only pay attention to so much, and that’s what becomes our conscious experience and enters memory."

What makes this study different from previous ones is that Meister says others never made 'any sense of numbers'. Now that we've got the magic number of 10 bits per second, it shows just how sluggish the human brain really is.

Featured Image Credit: TEK IMAGE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / GSO Images / Getty
Science
Discovery

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

8 hours ago
9 hours ago
11 hours ago
a day ago
  • Chip Somodevilla / Staff via GettyChip Somodevilla / Staff via Getty
    8 hours ago

    Trump announces 'Rocket City' launching in Alabama as he relocates Space Force HQ

    It settles years of debate between Colorado and Alabama

    Science
  • CatLane/Getty ImagesCatLane/Getty Images
    9 hours ago

    Experts reveal the five foods you should absolutely never freeze

    Experts released a warning to urge people not to freeze these foods

    Science
  • HUM Images / Contributor via GettyHUM Images / Contributor via Getty
    11 hours ago

    NASA is looking for volunteers for the first trip to the Moon in over 50 years

    Four astronauts will spend 10 days on a lunar flyby mission

    Science
  • MICROGEN IMAGES/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty ImagesMICROGEN IMAGES/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images
    a day ago

    Archaeologists unearth over a dozen humans buried with hands tied behind backs in bizarre discovery

    The discovery was made in Peru and the humans are thought to date all the way back to 400 BCE

    Science
  • Scientists just found the speed limit for human thought and you'll be surprised by the number
  • Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle could finally be solved following years of conspiracy theories
  • Scientists discover new human species with extremely unusual feature
  • Mysterious noise beneath the southern ocean that's baffled scientists for decades might have just been solved