max eskin:
:a)If you think about it, a neuron in the brain is very much like an
:AND gate or a transistor. It has multiple inputs and needs a certain
:amount of electricty across them for its single output to go high.
erm, yes, but neurons have to also "learn" what inputs should lead to
one state in their outputs. they can also connect inputs and outputs
as necessary, though we doubt they can reconnect.
and that's assuming that the universe is entirely deterministic and
humans have no souls. we're atheist, but we aren't willing to go there
to stay.
:b)I heard that people are working on computers with transistors so
:small, they would be affected by quantum laws, and thus be analog
transistors are, and always have been, analogue. look inside an old amp
if you doubt this. even mosfets are analogue (they apparently have
distortion characteristics more similar to valves when used in audio
applications - can anyone confirm, express preferences, etc?) - the
switching properties are a handy side-effect. quantum effects make
transistors unreliable, not [more] analogue.
--
Communa (together) we remember... we'll see you falling
you know soft spoken changes nothing to sing within her...
Received on Wed Mar 18 1998 - 14:19:06 GMT