On Monday, March 3, 2014 6:47:22 PM UTC, John Clark wrote: > > On Sun, Mar 2, 2014 at 7:36 AM, <ghi...@gmail.com <javascript:>> wrote: > > John - thanks for having a bash at the questions :o)
> > why do we get tired >> > > Because we run out of fuel or because of lactic acid buildup in our > muscles. > Hi John, mental tiredness isn't resolved anything like as clearly as for muscles. Back in the 60's they were talking in terms of it being about glucose for instance. That's long since been thrown out. Physical fatigue is a lot easier to override via training and motivation than mental fatigue. On the mental side, your performance goes down, and a few days up, it gets almost impossible to think straight and stay awake, no matter training. Yet we don't have a good explanation why that is. > > > Why do we need to sleep? >> > > Probably because we're primarily visual animals and Evolution weeded out > individuals who didn't get sleepy because they wasted energy wandering > around at night and got themselves into serious trouble when they ran into > an animal that was better adapted to the night than they were. > So....you're saying its about resting the sensitive visual machinery? Why not do that with an extra pair of eyes and a shift rota? That seems like a legitimate challenge John, since it seems very doable, and the benefit would be 24 hour action. Maybe even a pair of day eyes, and another pair of night eyes. The ubiquitous and so regimented/stringent character of sleep seems to need a major explanation. Especially given the huge fitness cost. > > > Why is it, mental fatigue has certain properties that ties fatigue to >> specific mental activities but not other, equally challenging ones? >> > > Because we have determined that some mental tasks are boring. Boredom is a > vitally important emotion, I don't believe any intelligence, electronic or > biological, could exist without boredom because it prevents us from getting > stuck in infinite loops. But it's critical the boredom point be set > correctly, in fact this may be the most difficult part of making an AI. Set > too low and we can't pay attention (I don't want to listen while you tell > me how to properly pack my parachute, it's boring), set too high and we get > stuck in infinite loops (weee.. I love the way that red rubber ball bounces > up and down, I could watch it forever, one, two, three, four....) > It's a thought, but like the visual explanation for sleep, it seems a little thin. Before I have a go at expressing why I think this, could I just ask how seriously you personally take this explanation? > > > John K Clark > > > -- 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 everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
