[Warning. The following is short and brutally frank.]
This first article (which overviews the others) is a typical piece of
neuroscience BS - at least from the point of view of a substantial
number of people in the cognitive science community.
To get an idea why, let me quote to you three excerpts from the piece,
but translating them into claims about high level aspects of COMPUTING,
instead of high level aspects of COGNITION.
Rememember, these neuroscience folks are trying to sell the idea that
they are making progress towards understanding how the entire brain
works as a mind, not as a bunch of neurons. They don't claim to be
doing neurophysiology, they claim to be making a link to cognition,
thought, consciousness and the like. So, in my edited versions below, I
have changed references to high level cognition to become references to
large software systems. With this change, the essential vacuousness of
the claims sticks out like a sore thumb.
****************************************************
"Understanding the dynamics and computations of single [transistors] and
their role within [computer circuits] is at the center of neuroscience.
How do single-[transistor] properties contribute to information
processing and, ultimately, to [the behavior of extremely complex
software systems]? What level of description is required when modeling
single [transistors]? Herz et al. (p. 80) review single-[transistor]
models..........."
"Single [transistors] are part of larger networks. Destexhe and
Contreras (p. 85) review advances in the computations created by
stochastic input in [transistors] and networks of [transistors]. They
emphasize the importance of irregular activity in [transistor]
computations............"
"On a higher processing level, computational neuroscience based on [an
approximate circuit diagram (with only 1% of the wires transistors
actually showing)] of the [Intel Xeon] can help us understand the
complexities of [the highest-level aspects of the software that runs the
US Air Traffic Control System]. O'Reilly (p. 91) reviews developments
in models, of [the software that runs the US Air Traffic Control
System]. He develops the idea that the [floating point unit in an Intel
Xeon] represents a synthesis between analog and digital forms of
computation.........."
****************************************************
If someone said that there was an entire field that was making progress
in understanding the issues involved in the design and functioning of
the largest software/hardware projects on the planet, and if the people
in this field grabbed an issue of Science to present shining examples of
their best work, as above, what would you think?
The emperor has no clothes.
Richard Loosmore
Ben Goertzel wrote:
There's a special section in this week's Science called "Modeling the Mind"
that should be of interest to many denizens of this list. Here are the
titles:
Of Bytes and Brains
Peter Stern and John Travis
Science 6 October 2006: 75.
<http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/314/5796/75> Summary >|
PDF <http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/314/5796/75.pdf> >|
News
An Enterprising Approach to Brain Science
Greg Miller
Science 6 October 2006: 76-77.
<http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/314/5796/76> Summary >|
Full Text <http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/314/5796/76> >|
PDF
<http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/314/5796/76.pdf> >|
Vision's Grand Theorist
Ingrid Wickelgren
Science 6 October 2006: 78-79.
<http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/314/5796/78> Summary >|
Full Text <http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/314/5796/78> >|
PDF
<http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/314/5796/78.pdf> >|
Reviews
Modeling Single-Neuron Dynamics and Computations: A Balance of Detail and
Abstraction
Andreas V. M. Herz, Tim Gollisch, Christian K. Machens, and Dieter Jaeger
Science 6 October 2006: 80-85.
<http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/314/5796/80> Abstract >|
Full Text <http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/314/5796/80> >|
PDF
<http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/314/5796/80.pdf> >|
Neuronal Computations with Stochastic Network States
Alain Destexhe and Diego Contreras
Science 6 October 2006: 85-90.
<http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/314/5796/85> Abstract >|
Full Text <http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/314/5796/85> >|
PDF
<http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/314/5796/85.pdf> >|
Biologically Based Computational Models of High-Level Cognition
Randall C. O'Reilly
Science 6 October 2006: 91-94
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