Some thoughts on neuro-sciences. From IT to KM

Data is not information, information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom, wisdom is not truth.

From my first conact with computers (in 1986), I was interested in artificial intelligence (AI). I asked myself, if this was possible. I started with programming and I am now very busy with my products and customers.

The key to AI is, how the brain stores it's information.

We all know some sudden memories from early childhood, that come into our mind. These days I listened to music I haven't heard for 40 years. I didn't remember that I know it, but listening to it again, I can remember every single note.

Both examples show, that the brain must be able to store a huge amount of information. It seems to store everything ever seen, listened and felt in a human life. But how much is this in GigaBytes, TeraBytes or even PetaBytes ?

We know that even PetaBytes might not be enough.
Is the storage system some kind of holistic? Or associative? Or well compressed?

A hologram stores a picture. When cut into two parts, every part will show the entire picture. The brain seems to store it's information somehow holistic. Everyday thousands of neurons die without loosing too much information.

Associative storage algorithms can eliminate redundant data by storing references on the redundant entries. The brain seems to store it's information in an associative manner.

We know many good compression algorithms. I don't think that the secret of the brain lays in a magic kind of data compression


>>>>>> Neurosciences <<<<<<

In the age of Christoph Columbus, everyone believed in the flat earth myth. Columbus sailed westwards and discovered america. He could have sailed in any direction and he would have found something!

Today we have models from the smallest particles to the biggest thing (the universe). We have an imagination from the beginning of time (big bang) and we have sequenced the genome.

But the human brain is a total terra incognita.

A man who travels in this area will find something, same as Columbus did.

Is the mind a function of the brain?
Buddhists like Patanjali and some scientists from the 1970's asked this question. If this can be answered with yes, AI is possible. If not, it's time to get religious...

I think, the key to find out more, is to understand, how the brain stores information. A later step will be to see how the information is processed. Pattern-matching and pattern-recognition are for me the first things to explore...

We can see electrons through the electron microscope and we know the structure of the brain. It is complex and big but also simple, because it is built with one single type of cells, the neuron. But we have no idea how the neuron works and how it stores information.

I think, this will be the next BIG THING. It will lead to many new technologies and answer many old questions.

Concepts and theories will be proved by working computer models and programs. Neuro-Scientists and programmers will influence each other. Data-Mining and pattern-matching is a very first and practical approach in this area. (I'm into it with my FuzzyDupes software.) Neural networks didn't lead too far. But SOM's (Self Organizing Maps, a specialized application of neural network algorithms) allow automatic classification systems and are the next step to do.

We are moving from IT (Information Technology) to KM (Knowledge Management).

Tonight, I had these ideas very clearly, so I had to write them down.

Detlef