Today, computers can outperform humans at chess, go, and scrabble. Machine learning and artificial intelligence are creating discoveries at an exponential rate, leaving us unsure whether we’ll soon be in a technological utopia or fighting against robots for survival. Furthermore, scientists are attempting to understand the brain, the most complex object in the universe.
From the tiniest to the largest of brains, researchers accumulate vast amounts of information about their structure and function. We are spending millions of hours studying what the brain does, and brilliant new technologies are helping us to both describe and manipulate this activity. As interest grows in computers and brains, people are starting to wonder how different they are. Read on to discover the differences between our brains and computers.
What is a brain?
The human brain is an extremely sophisticated and abstract system. It is the central organ of the human nervous system, and together the spinal cord forms the central nervous system. There is a cerebrum, a brainstem, and a cerebellum in the brain. As it receives the information from the sense organs, it processes, integrates, and coordinates the data and decides which instructions should be sent to the rest of the body. The skull bones of the head hold and guard the brain.
What is a computer system?
Computers are electronic devices that perform calculations. The main components are the processor, memory, input/output devices, and storage devices. As a whole, these components deliver the desired outcome. Within seconds, the device can perform numerous calculations. A computer has various electronic components, such as logic gates, capacitors, diodes, transistors, ICs, etc. Combining these electrical components gives a great deal of processing speed (nanoseconds).
Difference between computer and human brain
- An important difference between a brain and computer flash memory is that neurons can combine to help store and create memories. Each neuron connects to around a thousand other neurons. Considering that the average human brain has over a trillion connections, this overlap effect has much greater storage capacity. According to the current understanding of neurons, which is extremely limited, the brain has a storage capacity of 1 petabyte, equivalent to more than 1,000 1TB SSDs.
- Computer memory has 100 million megabytes with a density of 1014 bits per cm3, while the brain has 100 teraflops of memory with 107 circuits per cm3. Brain memory grows instantly through synaptic connections, whereas you need to add chips to scale the memory in a computer.
- The brain has a built-in backup system that replaces damaged pathways with functioning pathways. On the other hand, backup plans are manually created on computers.
- In comparison with the computer, the brain uses less energy.
- The brain uses electrochemical and electromagnetic forms to store information. On the other hand, Computers store data in symbolic and numerical forms.
- Chemical signals fire action potentials in the neurons in the brain to transmit information. Rather, the data is transferred through electrically coded signals by the computer.
- While the brain provides online processing and has unlimited power, it processes information slowly because neurons act slowly. The processing power of computers, on the other hand, is significant due to their fast transistors.
- Unlike the brain, which is self-organized, a computer is pre-programmed.
