Human thought processes information at a remarkably slow rate of about 10 bits per second, despite the brain's vast sensory inputs reaching a billion bits per second.

For reference, this speed lags far behind a standard USB 2.0 flash drive, which transfers data at 480 megabits per second (millions of times faster), making thought seem sluggish even compared to everyday consumer tech.

Caltech researchers Jieyu Zheng and Markus Meister quantified this in late 2024 by applying information theory to decades of behavioral data on tasks like reading, typing, gaming, and puzzle-solving, as detailed in their paper in ‘Neuron’ titled "The unbearable slowness of being: Why do we live at 10 bits/s?.

The quote "640K ought to be enough for anybody" is a persistent quote that was attributed to Bill Gates around 1981, coinciding with the IBM PC launch and its 640KB usable RAM limit due to the Intel 8088 processor's design, where 384KB of 1MB address space was reserved.

It first appeared in print in 1985, without a verifiable source like a specific conference, and spread rapidly in media by 1990 despite lacking direct evidence or witnesses.

Gates has repeatedly denied saying it, notably in a 1996 column stating "I've said some stupid things... but not that," [sure, Bill.] and in interviews emphasizing Microsoft's push beyond 16-bit limits toward 32-bit systems. 

But, given that I am never one to shy away from any opportunity to take the piss out of Bill Gates, I seized this chance to do so! And thus, piece number 33 from the Neurospicy Art collection was born.

A little bit of neuroscience mixed in with a sprinkling of obscure tech lore, finished off with a light roasting of Bill Gates - just the way I like it!

Available in 4 hand numbered limited editions of 600, premium fine art museum-grade archival quality prints, from only $195.

100% of the profits from this project will be donated to brain cancer research.