From the recent SDForum book review and brainstorm on the brain and On Intelligence, the book by Palm inventor Jeff Hawkins.

Hawkins writes:
“The brain does not ‘compute’ the answers to problems; it retrieves the answers from memory… The entire cortex is a memory system. It isn’t a computer at all.”

I blogged a bit about the developmental trajectory of electronics recapitulating the evolutionary history of the brain. Specifically, both are saturating with a memory-centric architecture.

(social anthropology photo by Chihiro Taketomi)

7 responses to “Gaggle of Geeks”

  1. complexify. Avatar
    complexify.

    Looks like a fun book club. 😉 I’m about halfway through that book you’re holding, which was a thought-provoking birthday gift. (Of course not all of us get to read it with Mr. Hawkins himself.)

    I like the colorful motorcycle helmet too…

    Reply
  2. angry shock Avatar
    angry shock

    Looks like a fun book club. 😉

    LOL!!!!!!!!!!! =D

    Reply
  3. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Geeks just want to have fun.

    strange ghost post of this photo…. I better add a description (above)….

    Reply
  4. complexify. Avatar
    complexify.

    So I guess it’s not coffee you’re drinking in those cups? 😉

    Speaking of fun, I’ve been reading On Intelligence simultaneously with The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker, so I’m trying to reconcile the brain-as-memory-prediction framework with Pinker’s rather compelling examples of humanity’s innate tendencies and behaviors. Of course understanding "intelligence" vs. "human intelligence" are somewhat different goals…

    Reply
  5. angry shock Avatar
    angry shock

    Freud would have never become such a worldwide success with his theories (on adult neurosis based in childhood experiences, I refer to specifically) if the brain didn´t work like Jeff describes: "it retrieves the answers from memory… The entire cortex is a memory system"

    Hawkins assumptions are congruent to most used explanations to mental illnesses and other psicological phenomena.

    It is a magnific thing that a scientific community so traditionally ‘behaviourist’ in their approach to things, as the U.S. one is, is openning its doors to a more cognitivist vision. I won´t say ‘freudian’ here because it is quite oldfashion, but it applies somehow as i describe above, too.

    Reply
  6. sweet thing Avatar
    sweet thing

    The brain is one of the last great frontiers on this earth. I am glad we are beginning to figure out how it works.

    Reply
  7. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Will hear from Jeff tomorrow at a cool event at IBM Almaden… The Brainstorm Wall

    Reply

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