Are you saying that you are counting every copy of the DNA as information that contributes to the total amount? If so, I say that’s invalid. What if each cell were remotely controlled from a central server containing the DNA information? I can’t see that we’d count the DNA for each cell then—yet it is no different really.
I agree that the number of cells is relevant, because there will be a lot of information in the structure of an adult brain that has come from the environment, rather than just from the DNA, and more cells would seem to imply more machinery in which to put it.
Are you saying that you are counting every copy of the DNA as information that contributes to the total amount? If so, I say that’s invalid. What if each cell were remotely controlled from a central server containing the DNA information? I can’t see that we’d count the DNA for each cell then—yet it is no different really.
I thought we were talking about the efficiency of the human brain. Wasn’t that the whole point? If every cell is remotely controlled from a central server then well, that’d be whole different algorithm. In fact, we could probably scrap the brain and just run the central server.
Genes actually do matter in the functioning of neurons. Chemical additions (eg. ethanol) and changes in the environment (eg. hypoxia) can influence gene expression in cells in the brain, impacting on their function.
I suggest the brain is a ridiculously inefficient contraption thrown together by the building blocks that were practical for production from DNA representations and suitable for the kind of environments animals tended to be exposed to. We should be shocked to find that it also manages to be anywhere near optimal for general intelligence. Among other things it would suggest that evolution packed the wrong lunch.
Okay, I may have misunderstood you. It looks like there is some common ground between us on the issue of inefficiency. I think the brain would probably be inefficient as well as it has to be thrown together by the very specific kind of process of evolution—which is optimized for building things without needing look-ahead intelligence rather than achieving the most efficient results.
Are you saying that you are counting every copy of the DNA as information that contributes to the total amount? If so, I say that’s invalid. What if each cell were remotely controlled from a central server containing the DNA information? I can’t see that we’d count the DNA for each cell then—yet it is no different really.
I agree that the number of cells is relevant, because there will be a lot of information in the structure of an adult brain that has come from the environment, rather than just from the DNA, and more cells would seem to imply more machinery in which to put it.
I thought we were talking about the efficiency of the human brain. Wasn’t that the whole point? If every cell is remotely controlled from a central server then well, that’d be whole different algorithm. In fact, we could probably scrap the brain and just run the central server.
Genes actually do matter in the functioning of neurons. Chemical additions (eg. ethanol) and changes in the environment (eg. hypoxia) can influence gene expression in cells in the brain, impacting on their function.
I suggest the brain is a ridiculously inefficient contraption thrown together by the building blocks that were practical for production from DNA representations and suitable for the kind of environments animals tended to be exposed to. We should be shocked to find that it also manages to be anywhere near optimal for general intelligence. Among other things it would suggest that evolution packed the wrong lunch.
Okay, I may have misunderstood you. It looks like there is some common ground between us on the issue of inefficiency. I think the brain would probably be inefficient as well as it has to be thrown together by the very specific kind of process of evolution—which is optimized for building things without needing look-ahead intelligence rather than achieving the most efficient results.