Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!munnari.oz.au!mel.dit.csiro.au!latcs1!jacob
From: jacob@latcs1.oz.au (Jacob L. Cybulski)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: simulating brains
Message-ID: <8834@latcs1.oz.au>
Date: 26 Sep 90 03:09:56 GMT
References: <1292@fornax.UUCP>
Organization: Comp Sci, La Trobe Uni, Australia
Lines: 18

From article <1292@fornax.UUCP>, by miron@fornax.UUCP (Miron Cuperman):
> Brains MUST be equivalent to finite state machines.  Any precision beyond
> the energy of natural noise has no influence.
> 
> Conclusion:  Brains are finite state machines with noise.  Therefore there
> is no a-priori reason why they cannot be simulated.

I think your reasoning is a bit illogical. It is your assumption that
brains are equivalent to finite state machines, and I cannot see any
convincing argument that this is the case. The subsequent conclusion
is thus unacceptable.

I do agree, however, with you and others that some aspects of mental
manipulation could be simulated as if the part of the brain responsible
were a finite state machine (I am not even sure if the term "part" is
appropriate here).

Jacob