Does learning need to be conscious, and what is the hidden role played by gesture?

Consider the following strange calculations. Through counting neural connec - tions, it has been estimated that 11,000,000 signals, or units of information, could be sent to the brain from sensory receptors at any one moment in time. Such is the complexity of the visual system that the eyes alone account for around 10 of the 11 million possible units of information. To function adaptively, we can actively filter out massive amounts of potential input information, to the point where our conscious mind, or our focal attention, might zoom in (just like a camera zoom lens) to allow in about 40 units of information per second. So what happens to the other 10,999,960 informational units potentially available to the mind within such an acutely focused one-second period?