Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!microsoft!t-rmason From: t-rmason@microsoft.UUCP (Richard MASON) Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy Subject: Re: how many distinct thoughts can a person have? Message-ID: <73243@microsoft.UUCP> Date: 28 Jun 91 21:17:00 GMT References: <1991Jun19.033316.18773@athena.mit.edu> Reply-To: t-rmason@microsoft.UUCP (Richard MASON) Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA Lines: 45 Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy Subject: Re: how many distinct thoughts can a person have? Summary: Expires: References: <1991Jun19.033316.18773@athena.mit.edu> <1991Jun20.083708.13355@tygra.Michigan.COM> Sender: Reply-To: t-rmason@microsoft.UUCP (Richard MASON) Followup-To: Distribution: usa Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA Keywords: In article <1991Jun20.083708.13355@tygra.Michigan.COM> dave@tygra.Michigan.COM (David Conrad) writes: >In article <1991Jun19.033316.18773@athena.mit.edu> mlevin@jade.tufts.edu writes: >>Does anyone have any arguments for or >>against the idea that the number of possible distinct human thoughts >>(or mental states) is uncountably infinite? ... It seems plausible to me; >>does anyone have a good argument either way? >> >I think the argument would rest on the analog, as opposed to digital, nature >of the brain. Since the potential across a synapse when it fires can be at >any value, i.e. it is not quantized, then one could make use of the >uncountably infinitely many real numbers between any two points on the >number line. The question is, is our intelligence dependant on the analog >nature of the brain, or can it be simulated on a finite state machine? >This question has sparked much debate, as you might well imagine. It seems to me very unlikely that a synapse has an uncountably infinite number of relevant states, i.e. that any difference in the potential across a synapse results in a different synapse state and therefore a different overall thought. Doesn't this imply that as a voltage-measuring device, a synapse is an instrument of infinite accuracy, infinitely superior to any voltmeter we could ever construct? This seems an absurdity. So it seems to me more likely that there is some limit on the accuracy of a synapse potential, therefore synapse potential is in effect quantized. If we add to this statement an upper limit on the maximum potential that can exist across a synapse, it would seem that the number of distinct possible brain-states is finite. Very large, but finite. ========================================================================= Richard Mason t-rmason@microsoft.com All opinions are my own.