
Are there ways to increase the rate at which humans can output information? - faizanbhat
In his Recode interview, Elon Musk postulates that humans suffer from a fundamental input&#x2F;output limitation that (supposedly) places an upper bound on our cognitive capabilities. He uses the example of a human typing on an an iPhone to illustrate how our max rate of information output is very low. He then explains how our rate of information input is much higher, mainly because we have a high-bandwidth visual interface.<p>Are there ways to increase the max rate at which humans can output information, with or without the use of currently available science and technology?<p>Very interested in hearing your thoughts.
======
kleer001
My first thought is that emotionally cognizant software could pull more
information out of videos of people answering questions.

Or do you mean more words per minute? Just speaking faster?

Do you mean useful information? More information is not necessarily good
information.

What would be the benefit of this higher bandwidth? Make more money? Answer
other people's questions before they're done asking? Before they've even
thought to ask it?

Would singing Ithkuil while doing an interpretive dance and blinking morse
code be enough information?

------
davnn
The fastest way to output information in the future could be to directly
output information by thinking and being connected to some interface that can
read your thoughts. Are thoughts the upper bound, however?

~~~
faizanbhat
In this case, thoughts do seem to be the upper bound. If we are talking about
linear streams of vocalised thought, then I suspect we might not get much
further from where we are. I, for one, find it harder to stream thoughts
faster than I can talk.

But consider any highly complex communication task. For instance, say you have
to explain how recursion works. You have to go through abstract thinking,
analogising, structuring, word selection, and delivery. It's hard work, and
unless your execution is spot on, vital information maybe lost in
transmission. Importantly, your thoughts here may not be a linear vocalised
stream, and the process may not take very long.

It seems that tasks like these would benefit from some form of information
exchange mechanism that doesn't rely on information being encoded in present
day language. It would be most efficient to somehow "compress" your thought
process around recursion as you're thinking about it, and then have the
receiver unzip it on reception.

------
atmosx
To me the rate of info one generates in any metric doesn't count. The only
thing that matters is the quality one is able to generate.

~~~
insoluble
The underlying message here is very important to consider in this discussion.
In many ways, the average human may already be outputting intelligent
information about as fast as he or she can. If we really could think
substantially faster than we can speak or type, then surely we could speak in
mathematical formulae and in beautiful poetry at all times. When solving a
complex mathematical problem, it seems most people have to stop and think
periodically while writing steps and results. The processing is slower than
the output. The main area where most humans are quick seems to be in
visuospatial cognition, and this is perhaps the main area where we lack proper
output capabilities. We need a parallel output system to complement the
current serial output. Maybe if we had 64 mouths and ears we could convey
information more quickly. Alternatively, a high resolution EEG could perhaps
read all our muscle tones simultaneously. The tricky thing would be in
training ourselves to output with all our muscles simultaneously, and the
result might be a show in itself.

------
cauterized
I assume you're talking about order of magnitude increases, not just "learn to
speed-read and double your touch-typing speed"?

~~~
faizanbhat
Yes, I'm wondering if there is any potential for leap frog advancements.

------
Zelmor
If you want to increase your output as a developer, you can start by learning
the Dvorak layout.

------
jotux
Inexpensive and robust EOG would go a long way in making human-computer
interfaces much easier to use.

------
w_t_payne
EEG / EMG bodysuit.

