Saturday, September 06, 2008

Stuart Hameroff - A New Marriage of Brain and Computer - Why 'The Singularity' Is Bogus

A cool Google video featuring a local guy, Stuart Hameroff, on A New Marriage of Brain and Computer - Why 'The Singularity' Is Bogus. I tend to agree with him that singularity is NOT near.

[Hat tip to ~C4Chaos for posting this.]

Slide Show

A New Marriage of Brain and Computer - Why 'The Singularity' Is Bogus

Abstract:

Brain and computer were wed mid-twentieth century by the McCulloch-Pitts model neuron and Hodgkin-Huxley equations for digital firing in biological neurons. Since then, brain neurons, synapses, firings and networks have been considered analogous to electronic switches, states and circuits in classical computers. But despite extraordinary advances and bold predictions, consciousness seems ever more elusive. On this, and other divisive issues like EEG gamma synchrony, deviations from Hodgkin-Huxley, gap junctions, dendritic webs/hyper-neurons, anesthesia, quantum computers and clear demonstration of functional quantum coherence in warm protein assemblies, brain and computer have drifted apart. Increasing evidence suggests that the brain-computer marriage could be spiced up, and consciousness accounted for, by exotic yet testable new approaches such as quantum computation in microtubules (Penrose-Hameroff Orch OR theory) in laterally connected input/integration layers (gap junction dendritic web/hyper-neurons) of neuronal networks.




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