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" The brain is the most effective algorithmic compressor of information that we have so far encountered in Nature. It reduces complex sequences of sense data to simple abbreviated forms which permit the existence of thought and memory. The natural limits that nature imposes upon the sensitivity of our eyes and ears prevents us from being overloaded with information about the world. They ensure that the brain receives a manageable amoubt of information when we look at a picture. If we could see everything down to sub-atomic scales then the information-processing capacity of our brains would need to be prohibitively large. The processing speed would need to be far larger than it now is in order for bodily responses to occur quickly enough to evade dangerous natural processes. This we shall have more to say about in the final chapter of our story, when we come to discuss the mathematical aspects of our mental processing. "

John D. Barrow , Theories of Everything: The Quest for Ultimate Explanation


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John D. Barrow quote : The brain is the most effective algorithmic compressor of information that we have so far encountered in Nature. It reduces complex sequences of sense data to simple abbreviated forms which permit the existence of thought and memory. The natural limits that nature imposes upon the sensitivity of our eyes and ears prevents us from being overloaded with information about the world. They ensure that the brain receives a manageable amoubt of information when we look at a picture. If we could see everything down to sub-atomic scales then the information-processing capacity of our brains would need to be prohibitively large. The processing speed would need to be far larger than it now is in order for bodily responses to occur quickly enough to evade dangerous natural processes. This we shall have more to say about in the final chapter of our story, when we come to discuss the mathematical aspects of our mental processing.