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If it turns out to be true that the brain encodes in 6-bit bytes, isn't our 8-bits for a byte extravagant? I'm reminded that "nature is lazy" and always goes f
by mikecane 14y ago
If it turns out to be true that the brain encodes in 6-bit bytes, isn't our 8-bits for a byte extravagant?
I'm reminded that "nature is lazy" and always goes for the easiest and quickest route for efficiency.
- mikeash 14y agoNo. That's like saying that an "hour" is extravagantly long, because we could use 30-minute hours instead. We certainly could use 30-minute hours, but it wouldn't change anything. You're just playing games with the units.
- vigrant 14y agoSometimes nature takes the hard path. youtube.com/watch?v=cO1a1Ek-HD0
- sp332 14y agoInformation is defined in terms of bits, not bytes. You can define a byte to be any number of bits, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte#History But the amount of information is determined by the number of bits, not the number of bytes.