From: David Hart (dhart@atlantisblue.com.au)
Date: Sat Aug 10 2002 - 05:58:08 MDT
Cliff Stabbert wrote:
>E.g. what does "all knowledge, regardless of type, consists of patterns of
>discrete signals, a pattern being defined as a set of temporal
>relationships" /mean/? Did I miss where he defines "knowledge"?
>
>
For clarification, I believe the statement should read "all knowledge [,
which is information in the human brain, ]..."
I am not a neural scientist, but IIUC whether or not a neuron fires in
response to received signal(s), in addition to the strength (number) of
signals received, the relative delayed time and order in which signals
are received is crucial. I do not know whether or not the situation is
also dependent on where (e.g. from which connections) signals are received.
In this way the brain stores information in time-dependent patterns of
signals. Accurate or not, I think of this somewhat like Morse code with
dots as the time between received signals ( ........*.......*.*.....**).
Only certain patterns may cause an individual neuron to fire (e.g.
fundamental pattern recognition). With billions of neurons working in
concert, all information (knowledge) is stored and retrieved in this
way, with temporal patterns as the fundamental unit of information.
* * *
It seems to me that human augmentation is a very likely part of life and
reality in the transhuman period (both pre- and post- singularity).
Interfaces between traditional computers and signal-based systems will
be necessary, therefore, studying signal-based systems today is a good
thing. (note: the lines between software and hardware are ever more
blurred with COSA, but this seems like a natural progression to me.)
More technical info can be found in the links below, although I truly
wish there was much more information available. I hope others will take
up the basic ideas and multiple COSA-like systems developed and explored.
http://home1.gte.net/res02khr/Cosas/components.htm
http://home1.gte.net/res02khr/Cosas/examples.htm
David
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