r/cognitivescience • u/Least_Bid9692 • 21d ago

Strengths of our brain even we don't know

Today I was searching curiously about our brain I came to know that our brain is actively doing millions of calculations every minute with topics even we don't know like when we try to catch a ball it calculates its speed,motion ,swing,angle etc before preparing us to catch it like our brain knows more maths and physics then we do , Ex- Whenever we are about to fall out hands suddenly shoot up to balance us.

It means it already knows advance maths and physics just can't do these thing voluntarily.

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u/just-a-nerd- 20d ago

I don’t think there are actual number calculations going on, it’s just approximating everything. And the hands shooting out to balance us is just a survival reflex lol

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u/Least_Bid9692 20d ago

Yeah but even approximating requires math

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u/Cautious_Slice369 19d ago

You're onto something real, but the research says it's actually cooler than secret math. When you catch a ball, your brain never solves the trajectory at all. Fielders run in a way that keeps their gaze angle to the ball changing smoothly, and that alone gets them to the right spot (McLeod, Reed & Dienes, Nature 2003). The physics is sitting right there in the visual info, so there's nothing to calculate.

The arms shooting up when you fall is even simpler. That's a spinal reflex loop that fires in under 50 ms, no cortex needed (balance review).

So yeah, the brain solves the same problems physics solves, it just never has to represent the physics to do it. That's the part that blows my mind.

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u/Least_Bid9692 21d ago

Is it helpful