world's fastest computers

http://www.top500.org/

The brain is clearly the fastest “computer” http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question54.htm we know of to date. If a single human brain is fast then a network of them would be even faster. So the question is, can you think of a real world situation where the human mind and human networks are used as a way to solve a world problem?

jason818_253.33 wrote:

 So the question is, can you think of a real world situation where the human mind and human networks are used as a way to solve a world problem?

Yes ... Its called :

Most of the people who go to work every day.  I personally sit down with seven other doctors (incredibly bright people I work with BTW) and we work out problems of medical diagnosis and treatment.  (Which, despite many people's best efforts, no electronic computer does very well.)

I think the analogy of the computer to the brain is fundamentally flawed, because the brain is not a computer.  Computers have a remarkable ability to store and retrieve information with bit level accuracy that no human can match.  Ditto for  computation and database query.  Humans, even very young humans, have visual perceptive and pattern recognition skills that tax even the largest computer system.

Excuse me, I gotta go "network" with my wife.

John Melville, MD wrote:




I think the analogy of the computer to the brain is fundamentally flawed, because the brain is not a computer.  Computers have a remarkable ability to store and retrieve information with bit level accuracy that no human can match.  Ditto for  computation and database query.  Humans, even very young humans, have visual perceptive and pattern recognition skills that tax even the largest computer system.

Uhh, how about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentat 

Ooops, dupe post.

I'm heading to "network with my wife" Wow I a could keep making very dirty jokes about this.... When you are networking w/ your wife does it work wirelessly?

John Melville, MD wrote:



I think the analogy of the computer to the brain is fundamentally flawed, because the brain is not a computer.  Computers have a remarkable ability to store and retrieve information with bit level accuracy that no human can match.  Ditto for  computation and database query.  Humans, even very young humans, have visual perceptive and pattern recognition skills that tax even the largest computer system.

I would agree with you, the human mind is not a computer. But there are similarities. And as technology evolves who is to say that the gap between the two won’t thin. but even as computers become more powerful, i think humans will still trump man made computers.

j0217995 wrote:

I'm heading to "network with my wife" Wow I a could keep making very dirty jokes about this.... When you are networking w/ your wife does it work wirelessly?

Best quote evar.