Most senses seem to use log-scales. I probably cannot add anything here that the wikipedia page for the Weber–Fechner law can’t, but I can at least reference it.
But I think it’s very fitting for navigating reality. It’s efficient, just like how using floating point numbers are efficient.
I think (derived through introspection) that the brain has a limited granularity to work with, and a baseline minimum and maximum value. Lets say our tactile sense we can distinguish between 200 different levels of physical pressure. It would make sense to space these points so that they’re denser for smaller values, so that we can feel the difference between 100 gram and 150 gram, and between 20 kilo and 21 kilo. (btw, the granularity seems higher in places with higher nerve density. To your tongue and fingertips, a grain of sand feels rather big)
To add something unique and expand on this, I believe that the brain increases granularity as one trains a specific sense. I’m rather tone-deaf, so my music skills are lacking, my sound perception is low-granuality. I’m no wine-taster, but I can taste the difference between cola and pepsi at least, so that’s medium granularity. When Google suggest synonyms to me, I often get annoyed, thinking “those words are totally different!”, and while that’s not a sense per se, I feel like it’s a high-granuarity mental landscape developed through studying. The brain wants to preserve calories, but if you push it enough, it will give you more bits to work with.
The minimum and maximum are decided by experience. To some, “fuck” is a highly vulgar word, and to others it’s low or medium on the scale. To some, self-harm is a topic which warrants a trigger-warning and to others it’s a common human problem. Some people cannot handle chili, and others can barely find hot sauces which satisfy them. I feel like oversensitivity is a failure to calibrate higher maximums, and that numbness is a problem of failing to go back down after experiencing strong stimuli.
After wrapping my head around Grahams number and TREE(3), I don’t think billion is a particularly big number, but I think that this is something bad that I did to myself, just like drinking straight vodka, abusing stimulants or getting a porn addiction is something bad that you do to yourself (changing the maximum float value is similar to building tolerance, i.e. walking up the hedonic treadmill)
Most senses seem to use log-scales. I probably cannot add anything here that the wikipedia page for the Weber–Fechner law can’t, but I can at least reference it.
But I think it’s very fitting for navigating reality. It’s efficient, just like how using floating point numbers are efficient.
I think (derived through introspection) that the brain has a limited granularity to work with, and a baseline minimum and maximum value. Lets say our tactile sense we can distinguish between 200 different levels of physical pressure. It would make sense to space these points so that they’re denser for smaller values, so that we can feel the difference between 100 gram and 150 gram, and between 20 kilo and 21 kilo. (btw, the granularity seems higher in places with higher nerve density. To your tongue and fingertips, a grain of sand feels rather big)
To add something unique and expand on this, I believe that the brain increases granularity as one trains a specific sense. I’m rather tone-deaf, so my music skills are lacking, my sound perception is low-granuality. I’m no wine-taster, but I can taste the difference between cola and pepsi at least, so that’s medium granularity. When Google suggest synonyms to me, I often get annoyed, thinking “those words are totally different!”, and while that’s not a sense per se, I feel like it’s a high-granuarity mental landscape developed through studying. The brain wants to preserve calories, but if you push it enough, it will give you more bits to work with.
The minimum and maximum are decided by experience. To some, “fuck” is a highly vulgar word, and to others it’s low or medium on the scale. To some, self-harm is a topic which warrants a trigger-warning and to others it’s a common human problem. Some people cannot handle chili, and others can barely find hot sauces which satisfy them. I feel like oversensitivity is a failure to calibrate higher maximums, and that numbness is a problem of failing to go back down after experiencing strong stimuli.
After wrapping my head around Grahams number and TREE(3), I don’t think billion is a particularly big number, but I think that this is something bad that I did to myself, just like drinking straight vodka, abusing stimulants or getting a porn addiction is something bad that you do to yourself (changing the maximum float value is similar to building tolerance, i.e. walking up the hedonic treadmill)