--- "John G. Rose" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > From: Matt Mahoney [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > And that is the whole point. You don't need to simulate the brain at > > the > > molecular level or even at the level of neurons. You just need to > > produce an > > equivalent computation. The whole point of such fine grained > > simulations is > > to counter arguments (like Penrose's) that qualia and consciousness > > cannot be > > explained by computation or even by physics. Penrose (like all humans) > > is > > reasoning with a brain that is a product of evolution, and therefore > > biased > > toward beliefs that favor survival of the species. > > > > An equivalent computation will be some percentage of the complexity of a > perfect molecular simulation. You can simplify the computation but you have > to know what to simplify out and what to discard. Losing too much of the > richness may produce a simulation that is like a scratchy audio recording of > a philharmonic or probably even worse the simulated system will not function > as a coherent entity, it'll just be contentious noise unless there is ample > abetting by external control. But a non-molecular and non-neural simulation > may require even more computational complexity than a direct model. > Reformatting the consciousness to operate within another substrate without > first understanding its natural substrate, ya, still may be the best choice > due to technological limitations.
By "equivalent computation" I mean one whose behavior is indistinguishable from the brain, not an approximation. I don't believe that an exact simulation requires copying the implementation down to the neuron level, much less the molecular level. -- Matt Mahoney, [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------- singularity Archives: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/11983/=now RSS Feed: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/11983/ Modify Your Subscription: http://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=4007604&id_secret=96140713-a54b2b Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
