Comparisons made between the human brain and computers are problematic in many ways your brain is so very much more than a computer, at least in the way computers most people know, use, and love today function - but do beg the question: what is the storage capacity of the average brain? Estimates vary considerably, ranging from as low as 1 terabyte (10,000,000,000,000 bits) to around 2.5 petabytes, 1 petabyte being around 1,000 terabytes. First, the brain breaks down this onslaught of sensory information into more manageable “bytes.” A byte is a unit of digital information consisting of eight bits, each bit designated by a 0 or a 1. It accomplishes this remarkable feat in several different ways. But after birth our senses start to engage with the wider world, and we are quickly awash in a sea of perceptions, with the brain as the processor that turns sensation into perceptive experience.

By twenty-six weeks, all five of the “traditional” senses - touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight - are present and functioning even in the womb. Scientists believe that a baby’s senses begin to develop as early as eight weeks after conception. But of course it’s more complicated than that, and to better understand the power of Blue Mind, we need to look more deeply at how the brain takes in information and transforms it into predilection or revulsion. Laura Sewall, Sight and SensibilityĪs we’ve seen, previous experiences shape the way our brain reacts to the world. All book club episodes are archived on my Facebook page and on Vimeo.Ĭhapter 4: The Senses, the Body, and “Big Blue” It is only through the senses that we experience what it means to be fully human.

On Sundays we follow the readers' guide that can be found in the back of the paperback edition or online here.Įach chapter of my book Blue Mind is shared here for patrons, as a courtesy to those who don't own the book or have access to a library. Our 9th Annual Blue Mind Online Book Club will be held from January 9th, 2022 until March 20th, 2022 (the first day of spring).įor those what aren't familiar, we read the book Blue Mind together live nightly on my Facebook page at approximately 5:30 pm PT for ten weeks.

Dr wallace nichols blue mind