Current Events > reminder that our human dna is only 14 terabytes of data

(+) Yeah! (+)

not bad for a meat sack

I think comparing human DNA quantitatively to software data is a mark of bad sci fi.

no it's the amount of base pairs in the genome and then converted into base 2

mark of good sci fi

BurmesePenguin posted...

I think comparing human DNA quantitatively to software data is a mark of bad sci fi.

I dont mind it, but thats just my two bits.

Kakapo posted...

I dont mind it, but thats just my two bits.

i don't get it, why do you have ten bits?

DNA is about 3GB
https://sandwalk.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-big-is-human-genome.html

dang u right, but it's 6gb not 3gb.

3 billion base pairs of DNA is is 6gb. (base-pairs are base-4, so it's just double to convert to base 2).

welp there it is. wait is it gigs or terrabytes....

yea it's gigs. less than a call of duty day 1 patch.

And yet our brains are capable of storing incalculable data

Most of that is probably useless body-related shit though.

All I know is discovery channel saying that it would take buildings full of hard drives to contain and transmit all your body information in order to teletransport it a la star trek

Hoodroar posted...

Most of that is probably useless body-related shit though.

eyeballs: you can evolve these for 500 megabytes

That's a lot to swallow

JuanCarlos1 posted...

All I know is discovery channel saying that it would take buildings full of hard drives to contain and transmit all your body information in order to teletransport it a la star trek

That would probably be the data for every atom in your body.

ok so google: "The body consists of about 210^25 molecules. That's a 2 with 25 zeros. More than 99 % of them are water!"

every molecule is going to need, at minimum, like....a kilobyte of space and that's on the low end. let's use a kilobyte cause it'll be easy. that's

20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes of data

counting commas from the right-to-left:
kilo
mega
giga
terra
peta
exabyte
zettabyte
vottabyte

the next level is literally unnamed, but the suggestion is

hellabyte.

we are looking at hellabytes of data, MINIMUM, required for teleportation.

you wouldn't download a human

even if we account for 99% being water, and that's "easy" for the computer or whatever, it's still vottabytes.

TULPAMANCER posted...

And yet our brains are capable of storing incalculable data

Our brain doesn't really store incalculable data. It contains pointers to it. The incalculable data is incalculable.

Robot2600 posted...

it's still vottabytes

Is that what Dracula says when he gets home from working a double?

Tyranthraxus posted...

Our brain doesn't really store incalculable data. It contains pointers to it. The incalculable data is incalculable.

Explain

TULPAMANCER posted...

Explain

A pointer is an address that contains a value you want to use. It is not the value itself, it's just an address.

This just seems like semantics. If our brains contain pointers to incalculable data, i.e. in theory our brains allow us to "access" incalculable data, then what's the distinction between that and just saying our brains store incalculable data?

I've read a few studies that say the human brain capacity for storing information is essentially limitless.

Not trying to be a contrarian. I'm just not sure what you mean.

TULPAMANCER posted...

And yet our brains are capable of storing incalculable data

Yeah, that's the crazy thing about humans in particular. Where along the way did our brains suddenly become capable of solving incredibly complex problems?

We don't just use what's available, we create what isn't. We're literally growing meat in laboratories nowadays.

How did that happen? Why are we the only species on earth that's even close to that level of intelligence? The whole idea is fascinating to me, and it puts such a huge question mark on everything that has happened in the history of the universe.

Gobstoppers12 posted...

Yeah, that's the crazy thing about humans in particular. Where along the way did our brains suddenly become capable of solving incredibly complex problems?

We don't just use what's available, we create what isn't. We're literally growing meat in laboratories nowadays.

How did that happen? Why are we the only species on earth that's even close to that level of intelligence? The whole idea is fascinating to me, and it puts such a huge question mark on everything that has happened in the history of the universe.

Language.

The development of a consistent form of communication that allows knowledge to be passed down from generation to generation, rather than disappearing upon the death of a generation.

People overlook how monumental language (spoken and written) truly is in the history of mankind. I'd argue the most significant human achievement.

TULPAMANCER posted...

This just seems like semantics. If our brains contain pointers to incalculable data, i.e. in theory our brains allow us to "access" incalculable data, then what's the distinction between that and just saying our brains store incalculable data?

I've read a few studies that say the human brain capacity for storing information is essentially limitless.

Not trying to be a contrarian. I'm just not sure what you mean.

The storage capacity of the brain is obviously not limitless. There are finite numbers which if you wrote down 100 digits on every single subatomic particle in the universe you still wouldn't have enough space to write it down.

But I can know "about" that number and I can tell you how to find it. You can't know it, but you can reference it and use it in discussions. That's the difference.

TULPAMANCER posted...

People overlook how monumental language (spoken and written) truly is in the history of mankind. I'd argue the most significant human achievement.

I think it's a step more broad than that. Not just language, but artistic expression in general. Being able to accurately communicate feelings and concepts. What are letters but small pictures that have a particular meaning?

It all goes back to cave paintings.

TULPAMANCER posted...

And yet our brains are capable of storing incalculable data

that i can't remember

ok, but where do i slot this extra ram into

EmbraceOfDeath posted...

That would probably be the data for every atom in your body.

Yes thats what they meant.

Robot2600 posted...

ok so google: "The body consists of about 210^25 molecules. That's a 2 with 25 zeros. More than 99 % of them are water!"

every molecule is going to need, at minimum, like....a kilobyte of space and that's on the low end. let's use a kilobyte cause it'll be easy. that's

20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes of data

counting commas from the right-to-left:
kilo
mega
giga
terra
peta
exabyte
zettabyte
vottabyte

That makes me wonder: how did they come up with petabyte and vottabyte anyway? I mean, compared to the rest, those two don't even sound cool.

It's all Greek to me.