Re: Mike Perry's work on self-improving AI

J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Wed, 8 Sep 1999 12:48:23 -0700

Ken Clements wrote,
> William H. Calvin begins chapter 5 of _The Cerebral Code_ with this quote
>from Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche:
>
>"Some people do not become thinkers simply because their memories are too
>good".

William H. Calvin comes as close to heroic insight as any neuroscientist should. Great writer too.
As for Nietzsche, well... not bad for a syphilitic misanthrope. (I loved him from the first time I opened _Beyond Good and Evil_, age 13.)

Anyway, the point made by Calvin (and Neitzsche, even though translation may have altered the meaning somewhat) deserves our consideration in analyzing how brains think.

Thank you for mentioning this in the context of how selection pressure may suppress memory in order to enhance problem solving ability (if I remember correctly).

Live long and prosper.

PS: In case you don't already have it bookmarked: William Calvin
http://weber.u.washington.edu/~wcalvin/einmag95.html#top www.williamcalvin.com