Thursday, November 18, 2010

Wired Connections

In CNET News yesterday, there was an article posted that the human brain has more switches than all of the computer on earth.  The article goes on to state that just in the cerebral cortex, there are over 125 trillion synapses and the article draws a parallel between a synapse (the connection between neurons) and a microprocessor.  To put this number in context, 125 trillion would be roughly equivalent to the number of number of stars that would fill 1,500 Milky Way galaxies.

This point goes back to something I mentioned earlier this year on my sceptism on Artificial Intelligence, while there is a clearly the possibility of rudimentary AI, my personal opinion is that we haven't even come close to understanding the human mind.  My argument being until we get to this point, it will probably be difficult, if not virtually impossible, to have the type of AI that is romanticized (is that even a word?) in popular sci-fi fiction.

Lastly, if there are 125 trillion synapses, as the article states, then I demand some understanding for being somewhat...ummm....forgetful at times.  It's not me - honestly - it's just that I have so many synapses to sift though.

That IS my story and I am proudly sticking to it.

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