ML
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Is consciousness complex?
Someone on Quora asked the following question: What’s the correlation between complexity and consciousness? Here’s my answer: Depends on who you ask! Both complexity and consciousness are contentious words, and mean different things to different people. I’ll build my answer around the idea of complexity, since it’s easier to talk about scientifically (or at least mathematically) than…
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Is the right-brain/left-brain (emotional/rational) distinction still useful?
[I was asked to answer this question on Quora.] I think there are actually three different questions here: 1. Is the right-brain/left-brain distinction still useful? Yes. Marc Ettlinger‘s answer on Quora gets into aspects of this. There are many differences between the left and right hemispheres — some of the most unambiguous differences are in…
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Will we ever be able to upload our minds to a computer?
My answer to a Quora question: What percent chance is there that whole brain emulation or mind uploading to a neural prosthetic will be feasible within 35 years? This opinion is unlikely to be popular among sci-fi fans, but I think the “chance” of mind uploading happening at any time in the future is zero. Or…
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Will the study of mind mimic mathematics?
Mathematics and the mind reflect each other. 🙂 The question: How much will the study of mind mimic the foundations of math and find use of math? The fields of computational neuroscience and cognitive science both use quite a bit of mathematics. The answer hangs on what is meant by the word “mimic” in the…
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How accurate is it to say that a brain area is the ‘seat of’ any particular facet of human experience?
A question from Quora: In neuroscience, how accurate is it to say that a brain area (or circuit) ‘mediates’, ‘evaluates’ or is the ‘seat of’ any particular facet of human experience? My answer: A very interesting and important question! Here’s a capsule version of my answer: Understanding the brain is like understanding the shape of a…