Event: Explore Caltech

Join us for Explore Caltech 2025, the institution’s signature annual outreach event, connecting the Caltech community with the public. After a hiatus from 2020 to 2023, we celebrated a highly successful return in 2024 and are now excited to build on that momentum for our 2025 gathering.

Talk abstract

Slower Than Wi-Fi: Why Our Brains Process Just 10 Bits per Second

Every day, we’re flooded with information—texts, social media, homework, news, you name it. It can feel like our brains are racing to keep up. But in reality, humans can only take in and process a tiny slice of all that information—about 10 bits per second (bps). Even world memory champions and Guinness record holders don’t go beyond that limit. To compare, your Wi-Fi at home runs at about 1 billion bps! In my talk, I’ll explain what this 10-bit-per-second limit tells us about how our minds work, and why it matters for both science and our daily lives.