X-Message-Number: 22268 Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 21:13:33 -0400 From: Francois <> Subject: Simulating a human brain in a computer Ok, lets push this as far as it can go. Suppose you build the simulated brain out of simulated atoms. Compared to a brain, atoms are quite simple. It is possible today to simulate the chemical behavior of atoms and molecules in a computer. You can, for example, "crystalize" virtual water molecules and grow virtual ice crystals that are structured exactly like their real world counterparts. I have at home a screensaver program that researchers use to evaluate the chemical behavior of potential cancer fighting drugs. So lets go all out and assemble a virtual brain with those virtual atoms and molecules. You'd need a pretty big and fast computer to do it, but there is nothing in principle to prevent this from being done. Would such a humongous program be sentient? After all, you could say that sentience would emerge from the collective behavior of the simulated atoms, just like it emerges from the collective behavior of our physical atoms. Going in another direction, can a computer program be sentient, not by trying to simulate a human brain, but by itself, through some clever and appropriate programming, like Hall9000 in 2001 a space odyssey, or commander Data in StarTrek? Finally, can a machine be constructed that will work just like a human brain, not through digital simulation programs but through an assemblage of material and structures that would process information the same way our brains do? Francois ----------------------------------------------------------------- "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." Mahatma Gandhi ----------------------------------------------------------------- Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=22268