arXiv:2408.10234q-bio.NC2024-08-03

The Unbearable Slowness of Being: Why do we live at 10 bits/s?

Jieyu Zheng, Markus Meister

Abstract

This article is about the neural conundrum behind the slowness of human behavior. The information throughput of a human being is about 10 bits/s. In comparison, our sensory systems gather data at ~10^9 bits/s. The stark contrast between these numbers remains unexplained and touches on fundamental aspects of brain function: What neural substrate sets this speed limit on the pace of our existence? Why does the brain need billions of neurons to process 10 bits/s? Why can we only think about one thing at a time? The brain seems to operate in two distinct modes: the "outer" brain handles fast high-dimensional sensory and motor signals, whereas the "inner" brain processes the reduced few bits needed to control behavior. Plausible explanations exist for the large neuron numbers in the outer brain, but not for the inner brain, and we propose new research directions to remedy this.

arXiv comments: 23 pages, 1 table. Accepted at NEURON
Journal reference
DOI
Subjects: q-bio.NCNeurons and Cognition

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Linked by 11 identifiable commenters in 12 comments across 3 threads, from Sep 2024 to Dec 2024. Found in 7 HN submissions from Aug 2024 to Jul 2026. Open submission discussions.

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The Paradoxical Slowness of Human Behavior Dec 20241 comment
- Paper on Arxiv (no paywall): [1] No major new results. It's just an observation that, for things for which human processing bandwidth is measurable, it comes about to 10 bits/sec. This may simply reflect the writing rate of long-term memory. [1] https://arxiv.org/pdf/2408.10234
  
  AnimatsDec 18, 2024View on HN Parent context
The unbearable slowness of being: Why do we live at 10 bits/s? Dec 202410 comments
- Oops - my bad - here’s the arxiv link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.10234
  
  sebgDec 18, 2024View on HN Parent context
- arxiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.10234
  
  luka598Dec 18, 2024View on HN Parent context
- Found the pre print if you don't have access https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.10234
  
  newswasboringDec 18, 2024View on HN Parent context
- Just for playing any sport the accuracy to instruct 100s of muscles to work in a certain way is certainly above that 10bits, Pointing out positions in a 10cm x 10cm x 10cm cubic volume seems to possible significantly faster than 1/s. The slower examples listed in the table all…
  
  mxfhDec 18, 2024View on HN Parent context
- It would be a lot less abrasive to say "It's linked elsewhere, but here it is: https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.10234" or some variation, instead of saying "it's here somewhere, go find it".
  
  ziddoapDec 18, 2024View on HN Parent context
- Here's the link that link links to, to save people time: https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.10234
  
  lgasDec 18, 2024View on HN Parent context
- >Seriously, paywalling of scientific research is obviously wrong. Agreed! Here you go: https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.10234
  
  ziddoapDec 18, 2024View on HN Parent context
- There's interesting discussion with the authors here: https://www.alphaxiv.org/abs/2408.10234
  
  vokDec 18, 2024View on HN Parent context
- https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.10234
  
  kubasienkiDec 18, 2024View on HN Parent context
- Free access link https://arxiv.org/pdf/2408.10234
  
  tim333Dec 18, 2024View on HN Parent context
The Unbearable Slowness of Being Sep 20241 comment
- I came across this paper through Alphaxiv, presented here on HN earlier, and have also found it quite interesting. On [0] the authors respond to various questions about their paper. [0@]: https://www.alphaxiv.org/abs/2408.10234v1
  
  codethiefSep 8, 2024View on HN Parent context

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The Unbearable Slowness of Being: Why do we live at 10 bits/s?6 points0 commentsJan 2025
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