9. Some numbers:
Silent Reading: 45 bits/sec
Reading Aloud: 30 bits/sec
Proofreading: 18 bits/sec
Piano Playing: 23 bits/sec
10. No, really.
One page in 2.5 minutes
1 page = 40 lines
1 line = 60 characters
2400 characters in 150 seconds
16 bits raw, 32 bits per char
~40 bits/sec just by the letters.
21. Kornhuber and Deecke hook people to an EEG.
They ask people to move their fingers at intervals.
They see the readiness potential when a finger is
about to be moved.
The signal happens a second the finger actually
moves.
22. The act of moving a finger happens a second
before we actually move it.
When do we actually decide to move the finger?
26. David Rosenthal:
“[...] the consciousness of these states itself adds
no significant function to that of those
other developments.”
Which means:
Consciousness is just a side-effect, with no real
adaptive value.
28. Ezequiel Morsella:
“a senate, in which representatives from different
provinces are always in attendance, regardless of
whether they should sit quietly or debate.”
Consciousness resolves conflicts between
different systems.
29. Peter Watts:
“The more cognitively sophisticated you become,
the more able you are to suppress hardwired
aversion responses in favor of long-term agendas.
The more sublime your awareness, the more pain
you can withstand.”