You are so Much Smarter Than You Believe You Are! Yes, I Mean You!

It's easy to get to thinking that you are not as capable of achieving high levels of success as someone else. But, you are smarter than you give yourself credit for. All of us are.

For instance, have you ever looked at how much information your brain actually computes?

At rest (When you're sleeping) the autonomic data transmitted through the brain is enough to fill eight sets of encyclopedias! (about three times the content in Wikipedia). Yep, your brain, the one inside your head transmits enough stuff to fill Wikipedia three times. Oh, I forgot to mention, it does this every sixty seconds, all without any conscious thought on your part.

So, just how fast is your brain?

It's hard to measure and the race between computers and the brain has been on for a while, but the machines have finally won. The K by Fujitsu, is believed to be the world's 4th fastest computer. It can out think and out store you by 10,000x but, and here's the kicker,

• You can process 25% of the data coursing through the world's very fastest computer! Which means no digital device you'll likely see any time soon can touch you!
• To give you some idea, a brain as simple as a domestic kitty cat's, can process 1 million times the data of the most current laptops!
• Not only that, but your brain runs on less current than a standard 60 watt lightbulb. (the old kind, pre LED) But, the K requires enough power to light 10,000 homes! And the servers it accesses (VIA world wide web connections) would fill a small city!

But won't I eventually reach the end of what I can learn?

Sure, but only if they find a way to keep you alive well past the average lifespan.

Although it's really impossible to compare the way the brain stores information with current computer technology directly, it's estimated that if you just used your brain as a DVR, you could record enough High Definition video to record images 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, for at least the next 300 years!

• Plus, your brain layers memories, so it could be exponentially more than that, as repeated images would simply be accessed from the same place.
• Also, the brain has priorities on what to store and what to delete. So, you probably can't recall every single time you've tied your shoes, for example, but you can imagine the action.
• So, if you didn't sleep, you could record all of your experiences for over 300 years, without running out of space!

In truth, no machine on earth can really compete with your brain!

Although the K can store more information and compute faster than you, it cannot reproduce what you do. In a test, the machine's nearly 90,000 computer processors, was able to reproduce just one second of approximated biological processing, in 40 minutes! That's right.

• Using the NEST software framework, the team led by Markus Diesmann and Abigail Morrison succeeded in creating an artificial neural network of 1.73 billion nerve cells connected by 10.4 trillion synapses.
• While impressive, this is only a fraction of the neurons every human brain contains. Scientists believe we all carry 80-100 billion nerve cells, or about as many stars as there are in the Milky Way.
• To complete this impressive feat of computing, the K used an incredible amount of space as it modeled each neuron. 1 PB of storage, to be exact, or almost half the memory capacity, guesstimated to be in the human brain!

So, what does this mean?

When you sleep, your brain transmits and computes more information than any doctor has ever consumed in the process of earning a degree, in sixty seconds! So, while it is believed that the "10%" of the brain's capacity is all we ever use statement is a myth, we are far from reaching the end of our capacity!

• This experiment has shown just how complex the human brain is. While our machines can process data faster in a linear sense, they still can't do what we do!
• In fact, just to create a "map" of the human brain, capable of showing the path of a single process, would require more computing power than currently exists in the whole of modern computing, combined.
• Before effective AI can be created, this challenge must be met. As yet, we still cannot create a simulation as complex as the human brain.

Remind yourself of this the next time you feel you're not smart enough!

It's easy to feel overwhelmed when we face things that are unknown, or unfamiliar to us. But, your mind, developed through millennia of genetics contains processors capable of learning pretty much anything you put your mind to!

• Remember, you can tell your brain it's not capable, and it will believe you. If you say you can't, you can't.
• In so many cases, the precursor to learning or achieving anything is believing you can.
• Just remind yourself, 3x Wikipedia, in 60 seconds. Yeah, that's how much thinking you do in your sleep! You're a mental monster!

Another thing to remind yourself is this!

All of these stats are built around the average human brain. It's a proven fact that the brain, like muscles, improves with use. So, don't be afraid to stretch it, you can go further than you've probably ever even imagined!

• Memory improves dramatically with use, so memorize! Sony lyrics, poetry, quotes, facts, whatever, cram it in! The more you use, the more you'll have to use!
• Each new skill and idea you add, is connected with all of the knowledge you already possess, it grows, like a web, enlightening other areas without even trying!
• The more you learn, the easier learning new things becomes. Your brain works differently than anyone else's, so find the ways that work best for you!

A word about learning styles and types of memory.

I've taught over a thousand acting students to memorize complex lines and lyrics, from as young as eight. So, I know a thing or two about this. Some people learn best by hearing. Some, by seeing, and some by doing! This connects with the three types of memory used in acting. P.hysical I.ntellectual and E.motional. (I like to call it making P.I.E.)

• If you learn by hearing, record it, listen to lectures, or subscribe to audio books! This engages intellectual memory and bypasses some processing that happens in reading, which can be difficult for some learners!
• If you learn best by seeing, then read it, watch videos of it, study images like blueprints, diagrams and illustrations. This is also intellectual memory, and also physical memory, since visual processing requires you to track with your eyes.
• If you learn best by doing, get up and move. If you can find a way to build a model, or use a manipulative tool, like pattern blocks, etc, to demonstrate a concept, then do it, but it may be as simple as walking, while you listen!

The real magic comes when you can combine all of this with positive emotion! In acting, you want to memorize appropriate emotional responses to work from, but in general learning, positive works best. If you combine several of these styles you will have the best chance of not only retaining the information, but really making a connection to it that sticks!

Now, repeat after me!

• I am smarter than the fastest computer!
• I do more thinking in 60 seconds, sound asleep, than I will need to complete this task.
• My brain will never run out of storage space, and the more I learn, the better it works!

So, the next time you feel intimidated by your life, just pull this out and put yourself back in your place. You can do pretty much whatever you give yourself permission to fail at, until you succeed! Go for it!