Computer Memory Chips Vs. Human Memory Comparison
ssBy Campbell Vertesi, eHow Contributing Writer
Computer Memory Chips Vs. Human Memory Comparison
Though computer memory and human memory work in fundamentally different ways, there are similarities that can help people understand the way computers work. Both brains and computers use different kinds of memory for different tasks, and this specialization allows the whole to operate much more efficiently. It is important to remember, however, that the comparison only has limited application. An organic, self-aware network of neurons and a platter of iron oxide only have so much in common. Still, our understanding of computers has been quite helpful in modeling the brain.
- Hard disk drives (wikimedia.org)A major function of the human brain is long-term memory. This memory stores information for years, and makes it available almost instantaneously the moment it is needed. Current theories hold that this information is stored by connecting neurons, and that connection is reinforced by regular use until it becomes permanent.
Computers also use a form of long-term memory: the hard disk drive (sometimes called the HDD or hard drive). A hard drive works something like a record: a platter spins on a spindle, and an arm moves to different locations on the platter to read or write to it. Information is stored in binary form by changing the polarity of tiny sections of the platter.
If we look past these structural differences, long-term memory serves a similar purpose in humans and computers. Harddrives are slow to read and write, not unlike human memories (human memory takes longer to access the older memory), and they can store seemingly unlimited amounts of information for many years. Human memories are much more mutable than hard drive data however, especially when they are stored over a long time. - RAM memory (wikimedia.org)Sometimes called "working" or "active" memory, human short-term memory stores information as it is being processed by the brain, and for a few seconds thereafter. Estimates of the limits of short-term memory vary, but it is commonly believed to last only a few seconds. There are many theories as to the biological mechanism of short-term memory, but it is commonly accepted that the brain filters immediate perceptions before storing them for the long term.
Computer short-term memory is called random-access memory, or RAM. This name refers to the ability to access any of the stored information equally quickly, as opposed to a hard drive which must spin or move the arm to stored information. Like human short-term memory, RAM is used for information as it is being processed by the CPU. When a computer has an active document or program, it is stored in RAM.
There is one major difference between human and computer short-term memory: what to do when you run out of it. Humans hit a conceptual "wall" when they reach the limits of their short-term memory capacity. Computers have other options. Most operating systems simply start to use hard drive space to act as very slow RAM. Human brains are more rigid with the division of labor between parts of the brain. - Computers use another kind of memory to transmit information: external memory. Flash memory, CDROM disks and similar devices offer portable information in a variety of formats to be read by another computer. They are also used as backup for data, in case of hard drive corruption or computer failure.
When humans have a hard time relying on their long-term memory, or when they want to transmit large amounts of information to other humans, they use various kinds of external memory too. Notepads, books and palm pilots are all forms of external memory for human beings. We use these for the same purposes as computers: to communicate large quantities of information, and as a backup in case one's own memory is insufficient. - Human memory is subject to disorders, just as computer memory is subject to bugs and failure. Alzheimer's, the slow deterioration of one's long-term memory faculty, is reminiscent of hard drive controller failure. When a hard drive fails, isolated segments of memory are lost, one at a time. At first, most of the data is still recoverable, and the drive may even still be usable; in the end, however, the drive will have to be scrapped and replaced. Even simple absent-mindedness is sometimes mirrored in computers: when a system reaches the limit of its memory (both RAM and hard disk), even the smallest distraction from the task at hand is enough to cause problems.
- As people use computers more and more, an increasing amount of human memory tasks are offloaded onto computer memory. Most people no longer remember phone numbers for instance--the flash memory in their cellphone remembers the numbers for them. Information technology workers regularly rely on computer memory scattered across the Internet to recall complex formats and programming codes. And computers have become ubiquitous in the transfer of information. People who used to carry notepads now carry iPhones or Palm Pilots. We do not need to physically implant computer chips in order to integrate computer memory into our brains--we already do it in many areas of our lives. Increasingly, the line between human and computer memory is becoming blurred.
