<p>First off, you mention 'metals'. What is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal" rel="nofollow noreferrer">metal</a>?   </p>

<ul>
<li>In common speech, a metal is a shiny material that conducts electricity and heat well.   </li>
<li>In physics, a metal is regarded as a substance capable of conducting electricity at zero Kelvin. Many elements and compounds become metallic under high pressures, for instance iodine. Reversely, the metal sodium becomes a nonmetal at a pressure of just under two million times atmospheric pressure.   </li>
<li>In chemistry, nearly all elements (around 95 of the 118 elements in the periodic table, dependent on the definition used) are metals.   </li>
<li>In astrophysics the term metal is even more broad, referring to all elements in a star that are heavier than hydrogen and helium. </li>
</ul>

<p>Assuming you refer to the colloquial term of metals, then well-conducting materials are in fact useless to store information. In electronical memory <a href="https://depts.washington.edu/matseed/mse_resources/Webpage/semiconductor/semiconductor.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><strong>semiconductors</strong></a> are used, because memory elements, like nerve cells, need an 'on' and 'off' state at room temperature. Well-conducting metals conduct electricity always, so it's hard to switch them off. Reversely, insulators don't conduct currents, as you can't switch them on. Semiconductors are therefore used, which are inermediate conductors (source: <a href="http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=4527" rel="nofollow noreferrer">UCSB</a>). </p>

<p>Silicon (Si) is a prime example of a semiconductor. According to the Chemistry definition, Silicon isn't a metal at all, it's a metalloid, <em>i.e.</em>, an element somehwere in-between metals and non-metal (source: <a href="https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/General_Chemistry/Map%3A_Chemistry_-_The_Central_Science_(Brown_et_al.)/07._Periodic_Properties_of_the_Elements/7.6%3A_Metals%2C_Nonmetals%2C_and_Metalloids" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Chemistry LibreTexts</a>). </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-26T13:31:22.383Z
this invokes a question: why can't our brains made from silicon?
Ooker
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-26T13:41:48.930Z
@Ooker - It can be, in fact, as it has some quite interesting resemblances to carbon. However, carbon has been chosen, for whatever reason. Evolution doesn't work goal-directed; it operates without meaning, without purpose. The only thing it operates with is what it has now, passed on by previous generations.
AliceD
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-16T03:42:40.403Z
@Ooker Your brain could be made from the Z80 processor in a TI graphing calculator, if you hooked it up to enough memory. Of course, we don't have a good enough understanding of the human brain to do this, and we'd have to wait a _very_ long time for any useful calculations to be performed, but it's possible.
forest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-26T10:07:05.173Z
2019-02-26T11:06:34.197Z
2019-02-26T11:06:34.197Z
AliceD
<ol>
<li>As metals are good conductors of electricity and they can be charged by the electrical activity of thoughts, why can't human thoughts be stored in metals?</li>
<li>Why thoughts cannot be stored in the form of charges in the metal?</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-25T04:21:32.990Z
Welcome to psych.SE.  What makes you think thoughts cannot be stored in metals?
Arnon Weinberg
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-25T15:56:50.463Z
when I first read it I thought that OP means why our neurons aren't made from metals
Ooker
<neuroscience><cognitive-neuroscience><memory><neural-network><brain>
Why can't human thoughts be stored in metals?
Manthan darveshi
# Why can't human thoughts be stored in metals?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-02-24)

1. As metals are good conductors of electricity and they can be charged by the electrical activity of thoughts, why can't human thoughts be stored in metals?
2. Why thoughts cannot be stored in the form of charges in the metal?

**Tags:** neuroscience, cognitive-neuroscience, memory, neural-network, brain

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Welcome to psych.SE.  What makes you think thoughts cannot be stored in metals?  
> **username_2**: when I first read it I thought that OP means why our neurons aren't made from metals  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-02-26. Score: 6

First off, you mention 'metals'. What is a [metal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal)?

* In common speech, a metal is a shiny material that conducts electricity and heat well.
* In physics, a metal is regarded as a substance capable of conducting electricity at zero Kelvin. Many elements and compounds become metallic under high pressures, for instance iodine. Reversely, the metal sodium becomes a nonmetal at a pressure of just under two million times atmospheric pressure.
* In chemistry, nearly all elements (around 95 of the 118 elements in the periodic table, dependent on the definition used) are metals.
* In astrophysics the term metal is even more broad, referring to all elements in a star that are heavier than hydrogen and helium.

Assuming you refer to the colloquial term of metals, then well-conducting materials are in fact useless to store information. In electronical memory [**semiconductors**](https://depts.washington.edu/matseed/mse_resources/Webpage/semiconductor/semiconductor.htm) are used, because memory elements, like nerve cells, need an 'on' and 'off' state at room temperature. Well-conducting metals conduct electricity always, so it's hard to switch them off. Reversely, insulators don't conduct currents, as you can't switch them on. Semiconductors are therefore used, which are inermediate conductors (source: [UCSB](http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=4527)).

Silicon (Si) is a prime example of a semiconductor. According to the Chemistry definition, Silicon isn't a metal at all, it's a metalloid, *i.e.*, an element somehwere in-between metals and non-metal (source: [Chemistry LibreTexts](https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/General_Chemistry/Map%3A_Chemistry_-_The_Central_Science_(Brown_et_al.)/07._Periodic_Properties_of_the_Elements/7.6%3A_Metals%2C_Nonmetals%2C_and_Metalloids)).

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: this invokes a question: why can't our brains made from silicon?  
> **username_3**: @username_2 - It can be, in fact, as it has some quite interesting resemblances to carbon. However, carbon has been chosen, for whatever reason. Evolution doesn't work goal-directed; it operates without meaning, without purpose. The only thing it operates with is what it has now, passed on by previous generations.  
> **username_4**: @username_2 Your brain could be made from the Z80 processor in a TI graphing calculator, if you hooked it up to enough memory. Of course, we don't have a good enough understanding of the human brain to do this, and we'd have to wait a _very_ long time for any useful calculations to be performed, but it's possible.  

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