The Human Brain wasn't Meant to be a Calculator

The brain is a very powerful computer. A computer with equivalent computational power would still fill up rooms (even with today's technology)*.

The irony:

 Regardless of that innate power, I (and many others) usually make an arithmetic error if we work out a few problems. Whereas a tiny calculator can add millions of numbers flawlessly in practically no time.

And why? Why does our brain that's so powerful make so many mistakes? Because arithmetic exercises is not what our hardware was built to do. Our brain hardware was built to make us survive and reproduce in the jungle.

Of course the sword cuts the other way; a pocket-calculator-brain would be pretty inept for survival and reproduction in the jungle.


*Clearly there's no software yet that can replicate what a brain does (even if the computational power is available), but that's another topic.