On 7/14/13 7/14/13 3:27 AM, George Hammond wrote:
On Sat, 13 Jul 2013 23:18:19 -0500, Tom Roberts
wrote:
On 7/13/13 7/13/13 5:39 PM, George Hammond wrote:
Adult mental speed is about 16 bits/sec [...]
My estimate for me playing the piano is an order of magnitude greater than that.
In the history of intelligence measurements IQs less than
70 or greater than 210 have rarely been observed. This is
only a factor of three which is far, far less than an "order
of magnitude".
And as a matter of fact it has been well-known for many
decades that an IQ of 100 corresponds to a mental speed of
16 bits per second.

I make no claim that my piano playing ability corresponds to a higher IQ [#].
But it's clear to me that when sight reading new music I definitely process data
at much greater than 16 bits per second. Even playing from memory greatly
exceeds that rate.

[#] Indeed, I have met many other musicians better than me,
but they have not struck me as particularly smart. But they
all an process music 16 bits per second. This is a
particular talent developed over many years of practice.
Compare to simple walking discussed below (another talent
developed over years of practice that is 16 bits/sec).

While I can imagine that mental speed may be correlated with IQ, it is QUITE
CLEAR to me that simply being able to process information faster does not make
one smarter. Quicker, perhaps, but not necessarily smarter.

BTW unlike your dubious claim above, it certainly has been well-known for many
decades that there is no single "number" (such as IQ) that can possibly capture
the many subtle ways that human intelligence exhibits itself. Data processing
speed/skill/experience is merely one aspect of a VERY complex phenomenon....


On 7/14/13 7/14/13 4:55 AM, Y wrote:
What if the brain is like an IBM 086, but runs VERY efficient software ?

The brain is nothing like any existing computer. It is clearly a highly parallel
architecture. A supercomputer may come closer, but is still far from a
reasonable analog.

It's clear that simple walking requires data processing much faster than
Hammond's claim of 16 bits/second -- it requires continuous fine motor control
of hundreds of muscles, and each one needs more than 1 bit per second of
control; in addition there is the handling of dozens of body position sensors,
pressure sensors in the feet (etc.), and clues from environmental sensors such
as eyes and ears. The conscious effort of figuring out where to walk may well
occur ~ 16 bits/sec, but the actual walking itself is necessarily much higher.

This ability is CLEARLY essentially unrelated to intelligence,
"smartness", or IQ. As I said before, no single "number" can
possibly capture the subtleties of human intelligence.


Tom Roberts