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>Surely we can track any and every physical mechanism in the brain "accessible" to consciousness To add to other replies, there's a gap in our ability to measu
by thelamest 6y ago
>Surely we can track any and every physical mechanism in the brain "accessible" to consciousness
To add to other replies, there's a gap in our ability to measure these mechanisms.
We can see the big picture with bad resolution (e.g. lesion studies, EEG, fMRI), or take tiny keyhole peeps with somewhat better resolution (e.g. single-neuron recording or MEAs). Moreover, each of these methods gives us just a narrow kind of indirect data (e.g. blood oxygenation, or electric activity at few synapses) out of a rich functional context.
They are amazing but perhaps still far too limited to inform truly detailed models and understanding.
- galaxyLogic 6y agoRight, we would have to measure perhaps most of the neurons in a living brain at the same time to understand what is going on. Building an artificial brain made of billions of artificial neurons and of synapses is a worthy goal but it could be like building a working computer. Having a computer does not tell us what is running in the computer. Software is the ghost in the machine. We don't want to simulate neurons and synapses, we want to simulate the programs that are running in actual brains. But what are they? And how could we find that out?