7 years ago
12
Your brain does not process information and it is not a computer
Your brain does not process information, retrieve knowledge or store memories. In short: your brain is not a computer.
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This article is amazing, not (only) for the information it brings, but for the questions in raises in my mind. Thank you very much for bringing it to my attention.
No problemo, it was a fascinating read! Oh, and hey, it's nice seeing you around! :D
Looks like we're back to the clay and spirit model...maybe we can add the cloud aspect to season it with a little taste of modernity.
And if we really want to out do ourselves, we should find quantum computing a place in there somewhere!
Uhm... that's all fine and well but aren't we kinda nitpicking over semantics? I mean tonight I will fall asleep and for hours on end cease to exist yet tomorrow I will awake and recall my name, age, procedures to tie shoelaces, use a knife and fork, construct sentences in two languages etc etc etc you get the picture. To say that I don't remember any of this because my brain doesn't have memory but I do recall it because the brain is... is not an explanation at all. It's just stating an observation.
"The sky is not blue because of light refraction while photons collide with atmosphere particles while traveling through air molecules but it is blue because I perceive it to be blue"
Hmm... Well... I mean... yeah. The distinction escapes me. But then again I don't do this sort of intellectual naval gazing any longer.
To use IP metaphor or whatever doesn't reflect true brain operations or whatever may very well be but to simply state the brain is also doesn't explain anything at all. I can make a statement like that about anything.
"You are not experiencing agony right now because your nails are being pulled out with pliers but the pain of feeling your nails pulled out is"
Uhm... wut? Aren't we laboring the technicalities of this point a little hard? I mean- who gives a shit about the semantics, either way stop pulling my fucking nails.
If the brain doesn't remember because it has no memory but it does recall because it exists can we still use the word memory? Reason I ask is because computer science borrows terminology we had before computers not the other way around.
Similar with knowledge and information. If the brain doesn't process info, neither does a computer. A computer performs voltage sequence permutations seeing as we are harbinging on semantics. Any information processing or encoded meaning in those permutations is something we infer but a computer simply exists. See? I too can play holyerthanthou pseudointellectual BS.
The bottom line is that metaphors and abstractions away from subatomic particle energy vibrations (which is technically the most accurate explanation we have for all things in existence) are useful way to have a conversation about anything yet we somehow feel uncomfortable using them to talk about consciousness even though we are perfectly comfortable using them to talk about everything else. Emphasizing that taboo in the name of intellectual honesty is hypocritical, ironic and sadly missing the point.
I wish my brain was a computer because I need a serious upgrade. I am currently running on PirateOS 1.5 and my hardware does not support PirateOS ADV 5.5.1 . It sucks. Damn proprietary systems... But seriously I never thought of the brain as exactly like a computer. It was just easier to explain its functions with a point of reference most people would have know about at the time.
That reminds me, where the hell is that pill that makes your brain more "spongy" so that you can learn and process things like a child! Even if the side effects are forgetting old things, I would very much like to open up and start sponging up as much as I can!
Imagine how much rum I could store in my brain if it was more spongy! I think I know what pill you are talking about but I cant remember the name (no joke intended). But it dealt with the brains "elasticity" which is reduced through age. It essentially causes a chemical (not sure off hand ??) change that returns the elasticity to that of a child. I will have to look it up again because I think there were stories on it 5 years ago.
Hah, elasticity... that's what I meant to say, yet used "sponginess" instead!
Definitely good to have a 2nd look and see if the technology has progressed any further.
I totaly understood what you meant by sponginess though. So my brain somehow knows some sort of relation between spongy and elasticity. Not sure if thats good or bad though.
Yeah,I can remember how easy it was to learn things as a kid and how time seemed to be slow as molasses. I want that back.
Yeah, I guess at 6 years old having only experienced so little time the days felt so much longer and summers felt endless ! Ohh, those were the days, when the summers were long and the only responsibility was to wash up before bed!