Hi Craig, On Tue, Mar 5, 2013 at 1:44 PM, Craig Weinberg <[email protected]> wrote: > On Monday, March 4, 2013 11:27:21 PM UTC-5, Pierz wrote: >> >> Really Craig? It invalidates mechanistic assumptions about eyes? I'm sure >> the researchers would be astonished at such a wild conclusion. All the >> research shows is brain plasticity in interpreting signals from unusual >> neural pathways. How does that invalidate mechanism? > > > It's not that wild of a conclusion. The experiment shows that we cannot > assume that vision is the result of a passive process that relies on a > one-way path leading from light to eye to optic nerve to brain.
No, it just shows that we cannot assume that the eye has to be connected to the optic nerve specifically. > The brain > actively shows that there is a path leading the other way as well, as the > whole organism seeks to see through the eye. The brain is always looking for patterns in its inputs that could be useful. > This shows that there is > sensory-motor activity going on within the micro-level of the tadpole as the > rather under-signifyingly termed "plasticity" knows exactly what the eyeball > is, and finds a way to use it. Or, the brain is just capable of recognising old patterns from a new source. > Try that with your computer. See what happens when you try plugging a > microphone into a DRAM slot or listening to your car radio through the > transmission. We know of many algorithms (possibly equivalent) that could be used to achieve something like that. They could require human assistance -- is this what you want me to do? -- but so do humans. This, of course, provided you are willing to disregard interface incompatibilities that are outside of the control of a normal computer. But I can't see why hardware without such incompatibilities could not be built. It's just that there isn't any incentive to do it at the moment. Notice that I'm not attacking your theory, I don't grok it well enough for that. I'm just objecting to this specific argument, because I find there are simple explanations within the realms of we already know about the brain. For example, we know that entire sectors of the brain can be repurposed after an injury. Best, Telmo. > > Craig > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
