Science at Flashpoint

[Arthur T. Murray]

As a heated parchment nears its flashpoint and bursts into flame,
so the kindred disciplines of neuroscience, linguistics, robotics
and artificial intelligence are aquiver with the agony of kairos.

Behold wisdom hidden from Sherrington and concealed from Shannon.
Witness the cyesis of the fertile imagination of your own species
humble in its mortality but fearless in its audacity.  Grok, mind
of mankind, the approaching flashpoint at the point of no return:

                         MIND -- THE MEME

  /^^^^^^^^^^^\ concept-fibers ganged together as /^^^^^^^^^^^\
 /  -infancy-  \ 3 mini-grids of semantic memory /  -infancy-  \
|               | including "grandmother" cells |               |
| episodic      |  * $ H-----H * * H $ H * H $  | episodic      |
| visual        |  * $ H $ * H *-* H $ H * H $  | auditory      |
| memory        |  * $ H $ * H * * H $-------$  | memory        |
| recognitions  |  * $---$ * H * * H $ H * H $  | activations   |
|      /------- |  * $ H $ * H-------------H $  | at            |
|      |        |  * $ H $-----------$ H * H $  | multiple      |
|      +------- |  * $ H $ * H * * H---H * H $  | random        |
|      |        |  *-------* H * * H $ H * H $  | intervals     |
|      |        |  * $ H $ * H *-* H $ H * H $  | such          |
|      +------- |  * $ H---------------H * H $  | as:           |
|   ___|___     |  * $ H $ * H *---------* H $  |    ________   |
|  /image  \    |  * $ H $ *---* * H $ H * H $  |   / stored \  |
| / percept \<--|----->H $ * H * * H $ H * H----|->/ H-e-l-e-n\ |
| \ of Helen/   |  * $ H $ * H * * H $ H * H $  |  \ phonemes / |
|  \_______/    |  * $ H $ * H * * H $ H * H $  |   \________/  |
|               |                               |               |
|  -maturity-   | language ________ structures  |  -maturity-   |
|      /--------|-------\ / syntax \            |               |
|      |  recog-|nition | \________/<-----------|------------\  |
|   ___|___     |       |    |flush-vector      |    ______  |  |
|  /image  \    |    ___V____V___  word-fetch   |   /      \ |  |
| / percept \<--|-->/ conceptual \--------------|->/ stored \|  |
| \ engrams /   |   \ mini-grids / for thinking |  \ words  /   |
|  \_______/    |    \__________/  in language  |   \______/    |

http://www.newciv.org/Mentifex/ original public-domain archive or
http://www.complex.com.pl/~venom/science.html Web site in Poland.