RE: We are no different than computers
April 22, 2015 at 11:18 am
(This post was last modified: April 22, 2015 at 11:40 am by Anomalocaris.)
(April 22, 2015 at 5:21 am)pocaracas Wrote: Present-day computers are mainly sequential machines.... there's some parallelism, but it's always very limited, when compared to the parallelizing power of analog neuron "computing".
Until we can mimic the millions (more like billions) of parallel processing centers and their interactions with each other, we won't be able to compare our computers with a functioning brain.
Also, it is my guess that, as soon as such a fully parallel machine is turned on, we'll see it behaving almost like a human child, perhaps a baby.... it will require some sort of "sensory input", not just text from a keyboard, but also images... it may become very adept very quickly and not suffer from path degradation like humans do during their teen years... because of that, it may come to suffer from some form of overload...
Desires and feelings could arise, too... oh well, I hear there's a new movie coming to theaters called Ex-Machina... according to the trailer, it does seem to explore some of these questions...
Another difference is a fully parallel computer may be designed to be completely generic, or has bespoke components designed to better perform specific anticipated tasks. That would still be very different from the biological brain. The biological brain is really a vast network of different components. Nothing is specifically generic. Many components are optimized to perform certain useful tasks, but only by chance. Other components sit there and do nothing, but is available in reserve should some mutation shunt some mental process in its way by accident. Some are nearly Incapable of performing their assigned task but are jury rigged to keep going.
The human brain is more like the millennium falcon held together by duct tape, than any computer any human could conceptualize clearly enough to design.
Digital sequential computers would be like a 3 stage rocket, and fully parallel computer a star destroyer.