If one was to assume that a persons developed skills are saved in the central nervous system by the way that neurons are connected, is there a theoretical maximum to the number of skills a person may have and/or level of development in a single skill?
With the development of one skill, assuming that the law of diminishing returns applies, the level where one cannot improve any further occurs when 100% of the person’s time is dedicated to perfect training and that amount of training is the amount required to maintain the current level of proficiency.
Note that knowledge of the method to perfect training, where the highest amount of development possible occurs, is unattainable. Modern developments in improving training efficiency has caused the constant growth in human ability over the years, but at some stage this has to plateau (Otherwise high jump training would eventually lead to humans being able to fly).
Unless human beings find a way to eliminate atrophying this is the highest level of skill that we can achieve.
Also note that rate of increase in skill (Development) and the rate of decline in skill (Atrophying –> the amount of time required to maintain proficiency) differs between individuals due to genetics, their ‘skill’ of learning new skills and other external factors (Diet, Stress, age etc).
When considering the development of several skills and the theoretical maximum number possible for a human it becomes a trade off between the multiple skills. This is because our current state doesn’t allow for the perfection of a single skill let alone multiple. It becomes an economic problem of how people use their limited resources (Time) to try to satisfy their unlimited wants (Skill Development).
Because this is not what I want to discuss I will assume that it is possible for a human to achieve perfection in a skill, that atrophying doesn’t occur and that people have the ability to instantly perfect any skill they want (Imagine Peter Petrelli and his Empathic Mimicry).
In this case a human can reach the theoretical maximum number of skills. This is determined by the sum of the neurons each individual skill requires equalling the number of neurons in the central nervous system (Assuming that no skill can reuse neural pathways created by another skill).
All this stuff becomes relevant if somewhere in the future humans have the ability to ‘download’ skills (after the technological singularity) or something like the bleeding effect from assassins creed is discovered.
Strikee 