[extropy-chat] Question on computational power of brain

[Jef Allbright]

We've seen estimates of the computational capacity of the human brain
based on estimates of the number of synaptic connections and their
nominal speed.  But this doesn't take into account an understanding of
the usage patterns of those connections -- certainly they're not all
working flat out.

Given that we know the energy consumption of the brain, and (assuming
we know) an efficiency factor for this biological machinery, can we
arrive at a reality check for the effective, rather than total,
ballpark computational equivalency?

Apologies in advance if I missed this elsewhere.

Comments from our resident neuro experts?

- Jef