Uh, wedrifid wasn’t saying that he could do better—just that it is possible to do much better. That is about as true for Google as it is for the human brain.
It is only possible to do better than the brain’s learning algorithm in proportion to the distance between that algorithm and the optimally efficient learning algorithm in computational complexity space. There is mounting convergent independent lines of evidence suggesting (but not yet proving) that the brain’s learning algorithm is in the optimal complexity class, and thus further improvements will just be small constant improvements.
At that point we also have to consider that at the circuit level, the brain is highly optimized for it’s particular algorithm (direct analog computation, for one).
There is mounting convergent independent lines of evidence suggesting (but not
yet proving) that the brain’s learning algorithm is in the optimal complexity class,
and thus further improvements will just be small constant improvements.
This just sounds like nonsense to me. We have lots of evidence of how sub-optimal and screwed-up the brain is—what a terrible kluge it is. It is dreadful at learning. It needs to be told everything three times. It can’t even remember simple things like names and telephone numbers properly. It takes decades before it can solve simple physics problems—despite mountains of sense data, plus the education system. It is simply awful.
A simple computer database has perfect memorization but zero learning ability. Learning is not the memorization of details, but rather the memory of complex abstract structural patterns.
I also find it extremely difficult to take your telephone number example seriously, when we have the oral tradition of the torah as evidence of vastly higher memory capacity.
But thats a side issue. We also have the example of savant memory. Evolution has some genetic tweaks that can vastly increase our storage potential for accurate memory, but it clearly has a cost of lowered effective IQ.
It’s not that evolution couldn’t easily increase our memory, its that accurate memory for details is simply of minor importance (compared for pattern abstraction and IQ).
It is only possible to do better than the brain’s learning algorithm in proportion to the distance between that algorithm and the optimally efficient learning algorithm in computational complexity space. There is mounting convergent independent lines of evidence suggesting (but not yet proving) that the brain’s learning algorithm is in the optimal complexity class, and thus further improvements will just be small constant improvements.
At that point we also have to consider that at the circuit level, the brain is highly optimized for it’s particular algorithm (direct analog computation, for one).
This just sounds like nonsense to me. We have lots of evidence of how sub-optimal and screwed-up the brain is—what a terrible kluge it is. It is dreadful at learning. It needs to be told everything three times. It can’t even remember simple things like names and telephone numbers properly. It takes decades before it can solve simple physics problems—despite mountains of sense data, plus the education system. It is simply awful.
learning != memorization
A simple computer database has perfect memorization but zero learning ability. Learning is not the memorization of details, but rather the memory of complex abstract structural patterns.
I also find it extremely difficult to take your telephone number example seriously, when we have the oral tradition of the torah as evidence of vastly higher memory capacity.
But thats a side issue. We also have the example of savant memory. Evolution has some genetic tweaks that can vastly increase our storage potential for accurate memory, but it clearly has a cost of lowered effective IQ.
It’s not that evolution couldn’t easily increase our memory, its that accurate memory for details is simply of minor importance (compared for pattern abstraction and IQ).