Personally I think brain imaging is of little value to actually making an AGI. Knowing the how the brain works and it's various components is a nice model.
However that's all it is, when we get down to it, we still have to code something. I don't think we should be attempting to make humans, or better humans in the form of sentient robots. Robots are solid-beings, humans are liquid-beings. Humans didn't just pop out of nowhere, they had a whole ecology of replicating liquid-beings to support them. likewise if we want to see intelligent solid-beings we've got to have an ecology of replicating solid-beings which they can use for sustenance and resources. In a way we already have an ecology of replicating solid-beings, these are the computers and mobile devices, which replicate with some assistance from their liquid-being counterparts, mainly in the design department, as much of the assembly is automated nowadays. Therefore all we have to do is automate more steps in the process of creating solid beings, and preferably develop "technological seeds" that can colonize various areas. Even if we have some super-intelligent AI, there will always be people that say it doesn't qualify as life until it reproduces by itself. Reproducing in a variety of environments requires general intelligence, as there is no way some specialist AI could do so. So I have to agree with Ben, leave the brain scans, to the liquid body sack lovers. Let AGI and associated funding remain in the realm of the solid-bodies and their supporters. Intelligent solid bodies date back tens of thousands of years, to the cave paintings and statutes, ever expressing their stored intelligence to any that look upon them. Language is the child of those drawings, which is currently the primary medium of intelligence. Even what we learn from analyzing those neuron bags, is all stored and transfered through language. I agree that biology is a great resources for learning, and has billions of years head start, so it is best to keep and maintain it, as we can learn so much from it. Though I think what could be much more useful is things like photosynthesis, if we could produce glucose or fructose with technological means, then we could have an easily storable and consumable fuel, which is usable by a variety of robot and bio host-bodies. Anyways if we are focused on intelligence, rather than energy, or biology, then the best place to focus is on language, as it is the medium of intelligence. Logan Streondj On Sat, Jun 23, 2012 at 1:35 AM, Russell Wallace <[email protected]>wrote: > On Sat, Jun 23, 2012 at 5:52 AM, Steve Richfield < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Neuroscience has been completely co-opted by the drug companies. I have a >> good friend who is the Charman of the Department of Neurological Surgery at >> the local university, and he can't even get funding to do some research to >> develop operations to save people who are dying in his own part of the >> hospital!!! >> > > Thinking about this a bit further. If I had: > > 1. The belief that neuroscience has been completely co-opted by the drug > companies, > > 2. An idea for a breakthrough brain scanner, > > 3. Contacts in that area, > > I think I would reason as follows: these days drug companies face almost > terminally crippling costs testing candidate drugs. Leaving aside the > political component to this, a large part of the technical component is > that each test gives you so little information. If we had better monitoring > of what's actually going on in the brains of the subjects of a drug test, > that could be worth an awful lot of money. Might the drugs industry be a > possible source of funding on that basis? > *AGI* | Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> > <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/5037279-6ef01b0b> | > Modify<https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;>Your Subscription > <http://www.listbox.com> > ------------------------------------------- AGI Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/21088071-c97d2393 Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=21088071&id_secret=21088071-2484a968 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
