THE GREATEST COMPUTER EVER MADE

I am not a computer geek. If I have to use one I get on, do what I have to do, then get off. About as close as I come to goofing off on my computer is when I am researching something and I follow links off into nowhere. But even with my rather novice level of knowledge I am blown away but what computers are capable of doing. And what they are capable of doing, as experts often remind us, increases exponentially every year. Civilization has never seen anything like it. Oh but we have.

It has been around as long as there have been human beings on earth. It is the human mind. Webster defines a computer as “programmable usually electronic device that can store, retrieve, and process data”. Stating that a computer is usually an electronic device means it can be other than electronic. The human mind is definitely programmable and it can most certainly store, retrieve, and process data. Thus, the human mind qualifies. I contend the human mind is the greatest computer ever made.

Take my brain for example. I have no idea how many gigs of memory I have. For the sake of this blog I will assume I am about average. We will leave people like Einstein out of this as I am sure he would have been off the chart with gigs. My brain has been programmed through my parent’s upbringing, my education, religion and many other factors. I have stored a lifetime worth of data which I retrieve and process as needed in order to function as a normal human being. Somewhere along the way my brain picked up its sense of morals and ethics. I am pretty sure a PC does not have morals or ethics. I am two up right there.

Where I start to kick ass is with the intangibles. I once heard a certifiable genius say when trying to recall something “I know it’s in there (my mind), I just have to find it”. Somewhere in my mind is everything I ever experienced. That includes every word I’ve ever learned, every song I know, books I’ve read and on and on. Where I really trump the PC is that with a good many of my experiences there is passion, love, sorrow and a bushel full of other emotions. The PC is heartless. The photos downloaded to her invoke no feelings. The images I have in my brain bring forth everything from sweet memories to those I would like to erase. Then there is the added bonus that I have the ability to reason. Given options, I can analyze them and their consequences and make a decision.

I often have to think hard to recall things that have happened throughout my life and yet sometimes I have total recall in vivid color of my childhood many gigs ago. All of this by simply letting my mind wander. No need to enter a code or a password. It’s all there. I am logged on 24/7.

Maybe I could participate in a pay-per-view event, me against a PC. It could be staged in enemy territory, say, Silicon Valley. The eyes of the world would be on us as we take our positions on stage, one of us on each side of a moderator. Someone would have to feed the questions to my opponent. I, of course, would need no such help. There is no doubt the PC would jump off to an early lead with its blinding speed. I would be the proverbial tortoise. But over time it would become clear to the world that this is a mismatch. The PC may have more bits of memory and no doubt quicker recall but that is where the superiority ends. Throw it a curve ball and you will get a blank stare.

Think of how much data is gathered and how quickly it is processed when the human brain is forced to make a split second decision? In addition, there is often a judgment call to make in that split second. In that instant the brain must assess the situation, tap into its knowledge of all the elements involved, evaluate the options and their consequences, decide what action to take and then send a message to all the nerves and muscles involved to execute that action.

Can the PC do this? I think not.

I rest my case.