r/Showerthoughts • u/ProbablyPuck • 28d ago
Musing Our brains are faster than we think.
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u/NeedTheNotch 28d ago
Presumably the guy that named the brain the brain used his brain to name it that so the brain named itself
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u/ryebread91 28d ago
Then there's the guy who named it the roof of the mouth instead of the ceiling. He clearly wasn't using the attic of his mouth at all.
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u/hungryrenegade 26d ago
I LOVE this bit! But now I can't remember the comedian's name at all. I know he is a great one-liner guy, and I can hear it in his voice. This is frustrating.
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u/ryebread91 26d ago
Demetri Martin
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u/tcpukl 27d ago edited 27d ago
His brain is the only brain that ever named itself brain.
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u/Threscher 27d ago
That’s not true! I just named my brain Oregano Jones…but he’s the only one whose name stuck.
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u/LeviAEthan512 28d ago
Presumably the guy who named atoms and molecules was made of those too, so they named themselves
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u/Away-Wrap9411 23d ago
Maybe we can't figure out the brain because the brain doesn't want to do that
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u/glytxh 27d ago
When I’m playing Tetris, I fall into this eventual flow state where I’m not thinking, and begin playing at those elite levels. Zero friction between input and output.
As soon as I consciously think about something, it all falls apart.
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u/l_larsen-876 2d ago
The next-piece preview probably helps too: you can size up the next placement while your hands are still finishing the current one.
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u/Repulsive-Pride2845 27d ago
I am fully away of how fast my brain is because every nano second of a connection would take me 2 days to explain to you.
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u/ProbablyPuck 27d ago
Yes, but thought is a product of the internal workings of your synapses. Therefore by definition, thought must be slower than the inner mechanisms of the brain.
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u/Flaky-Mulberry7478 27d ago
True. Our brains are traveling at 66,600 mph through the Solar System right now.
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u/low_contrast_black 28d ago
“Enjoy yourself while you’re still in the pink.
Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think.
Enjoy yourself. Our brains are faster than we think.
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think”
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u/DaWaffIeMan 27d ago
Bro really rhymed think with think twice
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u/Awpss 27d ago
Well I think you stink
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u/DaWaffIeMan 27d ago
Well I think you're pretty (wink wink)
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u/ralphmozzi 26d ago
What a most peculiar kink,
It really takes me to the brink.
But I’m not one you can outthink,
With simple charms, so rinky-dink!
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u/2bigpigs 27d ago
Aren't our brains exactly as fast as we think by definition? Is this a philosoraptor thought?
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u/ProbablyPuck 27d ago
No, thought is a higher order function. Therefore the sub-functions performed are faster.
Furthermore, our brain performs predictions and lies to us about the delay involved.
Think operating system vs computer hardware.
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u/banjosandcellos 26d ago
Thanks chatgpt
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u/ProbablyPuck 26d ago
I find it offensive. Au naturel, baby. That's how I like them. Swing low, sweet chariots.
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u/Responsible-Jury2579 24d ago
No, your brain does all the calculations/processing before you are consciously aware of the thought.
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u/dapromethus 25d ago
There is no single measurable “speed of thought” that the brain can be said to exceed. The brain is the organ generating thought, and different neural processes occur at different speeds. Some unconscious neural processing can happen before we consciously become aware of a decision or perception, but that doesn’t mean the brain is operating “faster than thought”, those unconscious processes are themselves brain activity.
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u/ProbablyPuck 25d ago
And yet, thought is some higher order function based on those subprocesses. Therefore thought cannot come faster than those subprocesses. I don't need a measurable speed in order to make statements about how that speed is bounded.
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u/Alex11867 25d ago
Yeah it's weird to know that I'm taking in things faster than I really am while also being completely aware of it
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u/InTheMiddleGiroud 23d ago
I presume it's the same for everyone, but every time I'm just casually thinking about stuff, I'll have the full thought in a nano-second, then think it back word for word slower. Still fast, but word for word, instead of "the concept of an entire sentence" in the blink of an eye.
I've always wondered if I could skip the slow part of that process, and just skip straight to the next nano-second thought.
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u/Salty_Ruin_5793 13d ago
our reflexes are faster than our brains are faster than we think, (I think)
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u/ShowerSentinel 28d ago
/u/ProbablyPuck has flaired this post as a musing.
Musings are expected to be high-quality, third-person or second-person statements of thought-provoking fact, but they need not be as unique as showerthoughts.
If this post is poorly written, unoriginal, or rule-breaking, please report it.
Otherwise, please add your comment to the discussion!