On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 4:17 PM, Bruno Marchal <[email protected]> wrote:
> > On 02 Jun 2014, at 19:37, Telmo Menezes wrote: > > > > On Mon, Jun 2, 2014 at 7:24 PM, meekerdb <[email protected]> wrote: > >> http://numenta.org/ >> >> An organization formed by Jeff Hawkins (inventor of the Palm Pilot) to >> study artificial intelligence. Hawkins idea is that lower level modules in >> the brain continually try to predict what signals they will next receive; >> and it is only when the predictions fail that signals are passed up to >> higher (more interconnected) modules, and it is at the highest level they >> become conscious thoughts. >> > > I read his book "On Intelligence" a few years ago and recommend it. It is > quite interesting and has some nice ideas on how to implement an AGI. It > conveys a lot of information on neuroscience with a strong focus on the > visual cortex. > > He even derives a machine learning model from his ideas, and it appears to > have practical applications: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierarchical_temporal_memory > > On the other hand, the excitement appears to have fizzled out after some > initial hype, but maybe I'm just unaware of further progress. Will look > into it. > > Pro: I really appreciate his "it's time for computer science to tackle the > brain" attitude, focused on actually building things; > > Con: He dismisses the mind-body problem by essentially claiming that > consciousness doesn't even exist. It annoys me, but I can tolerate it > because he delivers interesting ideas and models on the practical side of > things. > > > Not only I am unable to go to that page, but my browser get really mad > after I tried. Actually, I have lost my connection with the net. I guess my > OS is too old. > Strange, it's a regular wikipedia page. Maybe you can try the mobile version, which is lighter: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierarchical_temporal_memory > But from what you say, we might agree on this. That theory is close to the > idea that consciousness is called for when automated part of the brain > don't fit with the situation. We can open everyday our door without > conscious thinking, but if the key appears to not function well, we get > conscious of the situation. > Right, but it is presented simply as a theory of intelligence. One of the things he mentions in the book, that I really like, is the possibility that the neocortex uses very long axons that go deep into the brain and back in a loop as a device to delay signals. The hypothesis is that it allows the mapping of temporal phenomena into a simpler atemporal pattern-matching problem. > > Then, if he claims that consciousness does not exist, well, we have a > problem. Agreed. > Perhaps the problem is not so serious because his theories do not depend on this assertion. It's more of a side remark, he seems to be annoyed by the consciousness issue and just avoids it. It's fair enough, I think. I don't have the book with me so I can't check. I will check in the summer if nobody else comes forward. Telmo. > > Bruno > > > > > > Best, > Telmo. > > >> >> Brent >> >> -- >> 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. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > > -- > 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. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~marchal/ > > > > -- > 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. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- 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. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
