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I think sometimes people forget how the brain actually works. Much like vision, the brain does not process every single in real time, but makes predictions based on what it expects and then compares his to what has happened and makes further predictions. It also throws away a lot of signals that it does not need, as it would overload the system.
A simple example from the visual world, if you try and catch a ball, the brain makes a prediction of what it expects, and then checks this after the event. If you relied on the delay of the signal from the retina to your brain and then processing this information, you would completely miss this. It is also inattentive to other signals happening at the same time. This is before your brain processes what is happening and the emotional impact and meaning behind any signal. A similar thing happens to sound and every other signal.
This is also why we get startled by a sudden change as this is not what the brain is expecting, and needs to rapidly change how it is representing its world view.
Listening to a piece of music the second time, you will pick up nuances that were missed the first time. Listening to your favourite song for the 100th time, your brain does not have to spend a lot of time working out what is happening, and can spend more time thinking about the meaning, the emotional impact and reminiscing what you were doing the first time you heard it. It will be barely processing the signals at all.
Having microsecond or pico second responses and full range of all frequencies at the same time does not necessarily mean the brain can or does compute this. |
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