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From: kovsky@netcom.com (Bob Kovsky)
Subject: Re: Chaos and Computation
Message-ID: <kovskyD8vys6.C07@netcom.com>
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References: <dougD8FM8y.GI6@netcom.com> <D8MqGE.6on@intruder.daytonoh.attgis.com> <3pkqkg$boe@mp.cs.niu.edu>
Date: Sat, 20 May 1995 16:50:30 GMT
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Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu sci.nonlinear:3203 sci.cognitive:7660 comp.ai.philosophy:28212

In article <3pkqkg$boe@mp.cs.niu.edu>, Neil Rickert <rickert@cs.niu.edu> wrote:
>In <D8MqGE.6on@intruder.daytonoh.attgis.com> David E. Weldon, Ph.D. <David.E.Weldon@DaytonOH.ATTGIS.COM> writes:
>
>>The implication of this research is that we have a set of input buffers that
>>fill with data every 100 msec.  That data is then read by the brain and
>>processed while the buffers are reset.  Thus, all motion (and perception of
>>continuous time) is apparent and a construction of the perceptual centers of
>>the brain.
>
>If this were the case, we would expect to see special effects when
>the brain's sampling frequency is close to an exact multiple of the
>data frequency.  [For comparison, motion pictures have a fixed
>sampling rate, and one special effect is wagon wheels appearing to go
>backwards.]  I am not aware of any such interference effects.  If you
>have evidence, please post it.
>

	Although I do not know of evidence for Mr. Weldon's proposition
(and I see no reason to consider his "buffer" analogy credible), the
hypothesis that the brain "freezes" perceptions (and perhaps more highly
abstracted experiences) is consistent with a lot of experiments.  For
example, the work of Libet discussed in Dennett's <Consciousness
Explained> and Penrose's <Emperor's New Mind>.  

	My own view is that the hypothesis is supported by the universal
human proclivity to experience "states."  The clearest example, of course,
is motion pictures, where "pre-frozen" images are assembled into experiences
of motion.  While one might attribute this to the individual chemistry of
retinal neurons, it is clear that the actual "assembly" has to take place
in the brain.  Likewise, individual tones in music are "assembled" into
expressive melodies. 

	I would also like to see Mr. Weldon's references.

-- 

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    Bob Kovsky          |  A Natural Science of Freedom 
    kovsky@netcom.com   |  Materials available by anonymous ftp
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