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From: mxm@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Mike Moran)
Subject: Re: Why can't a computer "emulate" the brain?
Message-ID: <D2MIzJ.J4D@dcs.ed.ac.uk>
Sender: cnews@dcs.ed.ac.uk (UseNet News Admin)
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Edinburgh
References: <philipp.317.2F15DF92@westnet.com> <3fe5l3$q4h@news.cs.brandeis.edu>
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 1995 23:09:18 GMT
Lines: 41

In article <3fe5l3$q4h@news.cs.brandeis.edu> zippy@cs.brandeis.edu (Patrick Tufts) writes:
>philipp@westnet.com (Ralf Philipp) writes:
>
>>I'm new to this group (and to AI in general). I was wondering
>>WHY a computer can't (or supposedly can't) emulate the
>>human brain. 
>
>In order to simulate the brain, you need to know how the brain works
>in the first place.  Neurologists understand some of the structure of
>the brain, and some of how the individual neurons (brain cells) work,
>but no one knows how the entire brain works.
>
>Also, to do a reasonable simulation of a single neuron requires about
>the computing power of a Macintosh.  If you want to simulate a brain
>by simulating each neuron, and hooking up the computers, you're going
>to need a supercomputer.
>
>So the short answer is that we don't know how the entire brain works,
>which means we don't know how to simulate it.
>
>--Pat
>
>
	Also, as revealed to me in a current course, it would take a
	supercomputer to accurately simulate a single neuron, so as long
	as accurate simulation of the whole brain is not dependent
	on accurate simulation of a single neuron, you're ok, but otherwise
	youre up sh*t creek without a boat.

	So the slightly longer answer is, if you're simulations are 
	dependent and effected on the large scale, by effects on the
	short scale then you can't really say its an accurate simulation.

								Mike


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