The contents of all of the books in this photo can be contained in an electronic device that is about the size of the deck of cards. If copies of the books were purchased separately, their total cost would be about 25 times the cost of such a device.

If the first operational computer, the ENIAC, had the same functions, features, and capacities when introduced in 1946, it would require space at least sufficient to accommodate Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner. The cost of that computer (in today’s dollars) would be at least one billion dollars and probably much more.

Will our minds also become miniaturized by the same process of relentless innovation, of constant improvement?

I do not think so.

Why?

Because humans achieved these breakthroughs — often using electronics and technologies that humans devised — and will continue to do so.

It is important to keep in mind that the human mind is a muscle, not an organ, and it can be strengthened and indeed expanded by rigorous exercise as well as nourished by hearty meals rather than by hors d’euvres.

Those whose mental capacities have been miniaturized have only themselves to blame.