Xref: utzoo comp.ai:8291 sci.bio:4211 sci.psychology:3942 alt.cyberpunk:5447
Newsgroups: comp.ai,sci.bio,sci.psychology,alt.cyberpunk
Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watcgl!jwtlai
From: jwtlai@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Jim W Lai)
Subject: Re: The Bandwidth of the Brain
Message-ID: <1990Dec27.162654.23686@watcgl.waterloo.edu>
Organization: University of Waterloo
References: <37034@cup.portal.com> <37273@cup.portal.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Dec 90 16:26:54 GMT
Lines: 34

In article <37273@cup.portal.com> mmm@cup.portal.com (Mark Robert Thorson)
writes:
>For example, let's say I developed a program to enhance the reliability of
>serial communications by using triple redundancy.  [...]
>
>Now what would you say the "bandwidth" of this transmission mechanism is?
>It certainly requires triple the bandwidth over the communication channel,
>but is triple the amount of information being sent?  I think not, the bauds
>have been tripled but the bits have stayed the same.

ASCII text is redundant.  What if we used LZW compression?  Just because
compression is possible does not mean that it necessarily takes place.
Only experimental evidence can suggest that.  The bandwidth measured is
also dependent on the encoding scheme used.

>Likewise in the brain we see enormous neural structures used to perform
>low bandwidth functions like reading and listening.  Do these structures
>have some incredibly high internal bandwidth not evidenced in either the
>input or the output?  Again -- for the same reason -- I say no.  The amount
>of _information_ has stayed constant, even if it temporarily fanned out
>into some highly decoded (i.e. redundant) representation.
>
>I will admit there is bandwidth which is not visible at either the
>input or output ends.  [...]
>
>It's also true that there is some unconscious pre-processing which takes
>place without thinking.  [...]
>
>Should this pre-processing be counted in the bandwidth?  Once again, for the
>same reason as before, I say no.  [...]

I don't think we have a real argument.  My objection was to someone who
claimed that because humans have a low external bandwidth, they could be
simulated effectively with current technology.