Computers, landauer limit, future computation and the brain

About 2 years ago computers were about a factor of 100-10,000 from the landauer limit.
 "However, current computers operate at only 100-10,000 times this limit, forming an argument
that historical rates of efficiency scaling must soon slow. "-(2016)A Path Toward Ultra-Low-Energy Computing -source

Yet efficiency continues to increase, research in the lab is testing designs that could go very near the landauer limit.  Such computers, as I've stated previously, will be here within decades at most.

Unless the brain uses exotic physics it is very unlikely to escape this limit, thus the nature of its function would be computational, and there would be severe limit on the number of computations performed.  It is said the brain uses only 20W, but some have suggested only about 10W goes directly towards computation.    This suggests that if we take the higher pessimistic estimate and pessimistically assume the brain operates at the exact landauer limit(it may be near but probably does not exactly reach it), it may be that it performs 10,000 times the amount of computation as a 10W computer of today's highest efficiency.

Yet within the near future, we will have computers that approach the landauer limit, but have 1000+W available. and in institutions Megawatt+ available.

Koomey's law describes a long-term trend in the history of computing hardware. The number of computations per joule of energy dissipated has been doubling approximately every 1.57 years. -wiki

Comment on specialness of intelligence

http://www.inc.com/allison-fass/stephen-wolfram-principle-of-computational-equivalence.html

Comment on universality of computation and the specialness of general intelligence.

Some like Wolfram have already commented on the universality of computation in nature, the principle of computational equivalence.   Those who're opposed to digital physics, often subscribe to dubious notions such as the existence of "TRUE RANDOMNESS" and the existence of physical objects and physical processes with "infinite precision" in their physical manifestation, the physical manifestation of real numbers through natural phenomena.   Something that would basically imply that "Super Tasks" are taking place in nature, something that is highly dubious.

Now while commenting on the universality of computation,  and the issue of general intelligence, Wolfram seemed to imply that there is nothing that made it fundamentally different and special and that might be brought about to technological fruition by some key insight into the nature of intelligence.

I will say that, while I can't entirely provide evidence to refute the claim of lack of specialness, I will point to another process that most can agree does show specialness amongst the phenomena found in nature.  Such that we can see that even if we said two processes are computationally equivalent in complexity and nature of computations, there can be notable difference making one process special, such that computational equivalence does not preclude the possibility of specialness. That is the evolutionary process, we can all see that although the nature of computation is universal and similar in kind across natural objects and phenomena, something like evolution does indeed look special.  

 Evolution can reshape the universe, neither the weather, nor physical erosion, nor the workings of inanimate objects have that property.    We can observe that the evolutionary ratchet creates myriad of solutions, most we can see are truly dead ends(fated to die by many an inevitable natural event), but amongst these there is a drive for increased complexity in a fraction of the paths, this increased complexity opens the path towards dominion of physical processes themselves and survival from most any possible eventuality.

In intelligence we see the Coup De Grace of evolution, it's greatest and final weapon to survive, the designs of the ultimate trait for a survival machine, the means towards the perfection of replication and sustenance of purposeful action.    Not only can intelligence increase survival probability against anything that can be survived, but it also has the potential to generate ever more diverse forms of expression, of art, of science.   Gathering all the solutions not just from other life forms that have existed or exist, but from all possible life forms past present or future, from the platonic realm of all possibilities itself.   As we go up in intelligence we can see the difference, in the nature of behavior and the complexity of output produced.   While say a pack of wolves might say have similar level of complexity and similar types of processes internally, externally their actions will not amount to much.   But look at humanity, it might have taken tens of thousands of years, but as knowledge has accumulated it has interacted with our innate intelligence, and produced and ever expanding growth to the accompanying body of knowledge, and the ability to manipulate nature with ever greater degrees of control. 

We've also seen the production of music, games, movies, books, papers, performances, all manner of works by man.  A rich and ever growing body of diverse works feeding of each other, the very evolution of information itself, replicating in a digital form ever more and changing wildly like a fire, ideas set free.

This is very different in kind from other things happening around, it may be similar in both the nature of the operations and the degree of complexity, but it is not just history that makes it special.   If humans or future humans appeared out of thin air with an advanced culture and art, it matters not that such would lack history, the information content is there, and the richness of the civilization would be there.