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
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"First they ignore you, then they laugh at
you, then they fight you, then you win."

Mahatma Gandhi
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