artemus_5
Do yourself a favor. Skim right past the loser wannabes - above and to follow, as night follows day- and appreciate those like me who thank you for posting this brilliant article.
You said "despite" but for me its actually the technical aspect that I find most fascinating. Every once in a while someone comes along, takes a few seemingly ordinary facts, and combines them in a way that is a light in the darkness.
Here it is (from the article):
The guiding principle of a neuron is to record only a single bit of amplitude at the exact time of arrival. Since amplitudes are fixed, all the information is in the timing.
On the other hand, the guiding principle of digitization is to record variable amplitudes at fixed times.
Then just in case you missed it the first time:
So unlike digital recorders, nervous systems care a lot about microtime, both in how they detect signals and how they interpret them. And the numbers really matter: Even the best CDs can only resolve time down to 23 microseconds, while our nervous systems need at least 10 times better resolution, in the neighborhood of two to three microseconds. In crass amplitude terms, that missing microtime resolution seems like “only” tiny percentage points. However, it carries a whopping 90% of the resolution information the nervous system cares about. We need that microtime to hear the presence and depth of sounds outside us and to sense others’ emotions inside us.
Boom. Mic drop.
When Michael Fremer says of vinyl, "There's more there there" this is the science behind it.
Good stuff.
Thanks!
