Psalm

Robots and the Human Brain

Posted on by Shannon

Recently a hotel in Japan opened up with robots for its staff. Guest still have to register using an in-house computer, but the check-in robot lady talks to people about when breakfast will be served, and other details. A cart-like robot takes suitcases up to rooms, and a coat-room robot stores people’s garments. The hotel is a novelty, but its owners are genuinely trying to save money by not having to hire human staff. While the whole concept is amazing, the abilities of robots still don’t match what a human being can do.

Here are seven facts about the human brain as designed by God:

1. No one knows for sure, but the latest estimate is that our brains contain roughly 86 billion brain cells.

2. More than 100,000 chemical reactions take place in your brain every second.

3. Brain information moves anywhere between 1 mph and an impressive 268 miles per hour. This is faster than Formula 1 race cars which top out at 240 mph.

4. The brain produces as many as 12,000 to 50,000 thoughts per day, depending on how deep a thinker a person is.

5. Babies have big heads to hold rapidly growing brains. A 2-year-old’s brain is 80% of adult size.

6. Your brain’s storage capacity is considered virtually unlimited. It doesn’t get “used up” like memory in your computer.

7. Best of all, a human brain is free. One comes with each baby at birth.

While man has been able to invent some amazing robots, they depend on a costly army of designers, maintenance people, parts, and programmers. The human brain speaks eloquently of the greatness of God.

David expressed it very well in Psalm 139:14, “I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.”

– Tim Johnson

To Search and Know

Posted on by Shannon

A new computer has introduced me to the world of cloud computing. It used to be that you had to store all your files on your physical computer, or at least backed up by some sort of gizmo you could buy. But now you can send all your files over the Internet to vast storage places operated by different companies that reserve some space for you. You can add to it any time you like, and later search for what you need to finish projects. It’s like sending information into a hovering cloud in the sky that guards it, only releasing it when you give it permission. Much of the knowledge of the world is now stored in virtual clouds. It’s amazing and very convenient.

The ability of God to know everything about us is also amazing. He doesn’t have to retrieve files from a cloud to check up on us, nor does he need special permission to find ways to help us when we need it. God is omniscient, possessing a full array of knowledge about all things at all times.

David expressed this in Psalm 139. “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it.”

David’s words are not meant to frighten us. He is merely praising God for who He is and how He cares for us. “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them” (v17).

– Tim Johnson