Huh. That would explain a few things.
From Techspot, December 24:
They also explain why we can only think one thought at a time
What just happened? Scientists have discovered that our brains process thoughts much more slowly than previously believed. This surprising finding has its roots in our evolutionary history and sheds more light on why our minds work the way they do.
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have unveiled a startling revelation about the human mind: our thoughts move at a mere 10 bits per second, a rate that pales in comparison to the staggering billion bits per second at which our sensory systems gather environmental data. This discovery, published in the journal Neuron, is challenging long-held assumptions about human cognition.
The research, conducted in the laboratory of Markus Meister, the Anne P. and Benjamin F. Biaggini Professor of Biological Sciences at Caltech, and spearheaded by graduate student Jieyu Zheng, applied information theory techniques on an extensive collection of scientific literature. By analyzing human behaviors such as reading, writing, video gaming, and Rubik's Cube solving, the team calculated the 10 bits per second figure – a rate that Meister describes as "extremely low."
To put this in perspective, a typical Wi-Fi connection processes about 50 million bits per second, making our thought processes seem glacial by comparison. This stark contrast raises a paradox that Meister and his team are eager to explore further: "What is the brain doing to filter all of this information?"
The human brain contains over 85 billion neurons, with one-third dedicated to high-level thinking in the cortex. Individual neurons are capable of transmitting more than 10 bits per second, yet our overall thought process operates at a much slower rate. This discrepancy presents another conundrum for neuroscientists to unravel....
....MUCH MORE
