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> If we took your brain and perfectly digitized it on read-only hardware, would you expect to still “think”? Perhaps this is already known, but I would think t
by zeroonetwothree 1y ago
> If we took your brain and perfectly digitized it on read-only hardware, would you expect to still “think”?
Perhaps this is already known, but I would think there is a high chance that our brains require "write access" to function. That is, the very process of neural activity inherently makes modifications to the underlying structure.
- xwolfi 1y agoI wonder why we need to sleep so much though
- throwaway-0001 1y agoRebalancing weights?
- theptip 1y agoSelf-play for memory/skill consolidation, plus flushing out metabolites which can’t be cleaned while consciousness is online?
- theptip 1y ago> a high chance that our brains require "write access" to function There are multiple learning mechanisms that happen on different time-frames, eg neural plasticity, hippocampus are both longer-term processes for memory consolidation. Whereas the content of “RAM” might be better modeled as a set of fast dynamic weights representing ions and neurotransmitter concentrations. My hunch is that you could model the latter fast weights in volatile memory, but I wouldn’t count these as “modifying the structure”. Do you have any particular systems in mind where you have reason to believe that permanent modification is required for brains to function?