Alan, On Sun, Jun 24, 2012 at 4:56 AM, Alan Grimes <[email protected]> wrote:
> Steve Richfield wrote: > > > > My plan is a long-term plan, not a short term plan to push out a > > proposal and collect the cash. My long-term plan is to spread the > > knowledge of the prospect of a diagramming machine, along with enough > > details to generally support that knowledge, and wait for the present > > AGI exuberance to run its course. Ben's (and others) views will > > eventually mature - or he/they will become homeless for lack of funding. > > Either way, a better understanding of the difficulties at hand will > > emerge during the next few years. Eventually, people will start asking > > "How are we going to ask for more funding, when everything we have done > > so far has led nowhere?" Eventually, out of the failures of present AGI > > efforts, the diagramming machine will emerge as the ONLY believable > > prospect for the salvation of AGI. > > Are you familiar with the human connectome project? =P > From Wikipedia: *Using a combination of non-invasive imaging technologies, including resting-state and task-based functional MRI, MEG and EEG, and diffusion tractography, the WU-Minn will be mapping connectomes<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connectome>at the macro scale—mapping large brain systems that can be parcellated into anatomically and functionally distinct areas, rather than mapping individual neurons. * * *That is like mapping where the circuit boards are and what wiring harnesses they are connected to, but without looking at the functional details I don't see the value to AGI. Also, I don't see the value to medicine, as the boundaries between functional areas are quite flexible. For example, the functional map of the brain of a multilingual person is quite different than that of a person who only speaks one language, yet the physical maps are nearly identical. > > Also, you need to work on your leadership skills. Leaders don't wait for > when it's convenient, they immediately search for the best strategy and > implement it as soon as it's semi-finalized. > Trying to lead this group is like trying to heard cats. Sometimes the best strategy is to just sit and wait in ambush. Without the "pull" of people who see that they need this information, what would be the value of building the diagrammer? My whole motivation for posting about this is the hope that when people realize that a diagrammer is possible to build, that they will start creating some pull. Besides, its cost is dropping rapidly with advancing computer technology. The BIG problem with sitting and waiting is that there will probably be 2-3 years between funding and the first usable diagrams. If we wait until AGI is in its death throes, and we don't know when that will happen, then AGI researchers will all have lost their homes and marriages by the time that the diagrams are ready to help save what little is left of their collective asses. However, that is no skin off of MY ass, because I am not betting anything at all on present AGI efforts - until I see a relatively clear path to success. Powers are not rights. > Who says so? "God fights on the side with the best artillery." "History is written by the victors." (both quotes by Napoleon) It is power (e.g. the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War) that creates rights (e.g. the U.S. Constitution). Perhaps someday an AGI will define YOUR rights. I wonder whether living will be among those rights. Steve ------------------------------------------- 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
