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From: marty@indirect.com (Marty Stoneman)
Subject: Re: Thought Question
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Date: Fri, 12 May 1995 18:06:04 GMT
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Subject: Re: Thought Question Newsgroups: comp.ai References:
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Steve Ranzinger (70672.113@CompuServe.COM) wrote:
: The Human brain is a General-Purpose Modelling Device.  It has 
: the ability to abstractually store the behaviour of the world 
: around it and it is "programmed" by the environment that 
: surrounds it. Like capillary action, this modelling device 
: extracts information instantly upon its release into the world. 
: In order to protect and sustain the device, it is placed in a 
: package with built-in defense reflexes and self-support 
: functions.

	Generally, I like your metaphor.  However, your "elitist
position that the "human brain" is the general-purpose one,
rather than, say, the cat brain or the fly brain, is counter-
factual IMHO.  See the wealth of data about the "special
adaptations" of human brains coming from, e.g., the new field of 
evolutionary psychology.  And our "modelling device" is certainly 
MUCH affected by our "internal" genetics in its work modelling
"the external environment".

: In order to verify what it has "absorbed", it has been given the 
: means to modify the environment (arms, voice, ...), which also 
: creates an inter-action among other similar machines.  --The 
: basis for a very complex Cause/Effect universe!

: -Steve Ranzinger

	IMHO, it might be more accurate to state that creatures 
must often be able to modify/play-with the environment to be 
able to extract sufficient useful information from it to do
modelling.  Also, strictly as a postscript (not to start a
new thread!), I now 80-20 believe that "cause/effect" is 
within us and our brains and I doubt that we will ever
find the "universe" to be such a place.....
				Marty Stoneman
				marty@indirect.com

