In fact, what is the question about really?
Is it even a fair comparison?
The Question: Does a Human Think Faster Than a Computer?
The question itself represents the fallacy of how people think about computers.
When a person uses a computer, if it’s slow then it’s junk.
First, to partially answer the “speed” question we need to examine data transmission.
That’s pretty fast!
In 2006, thefastest reported fiber optic transmissionrate was 2.56 terabits a second.
Okay, but a bit is nothing more than a zero and a one.
Score one for computers.
What About Processing Power?
The question of processing is a tricky one.
A GFlop represents a billion operations per second.
You’re ready to chalk up another point to computers, right?
I don’t know about you, but I’m horrible at doing calculations in my head.
The truth is, when it comes to intelligence there’s so much more to process than calculations alone.
How do you calculate what the tone of someone’s voice implies they arereallysaying?
This is where the true power of the human brain makes itself known.
This is the major difference between a human brain and a computer.
What he means is that a computer organizes information in a logical way.
To retrieve data, the computer uses logical storage locations.
A human brain, on the other hand, remembers where information is stored based on cues.
Those cues areother pieces of informationor memories connected to the information you should probably retrieve.
In short, the answer to the question “Does a human think faster than a computer?”
And it can also do a whole lot more than that.
