{"id":3564,"date":"2010-02-04T10:58:43","date_gmt":"2010-02-04T18:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.candlelightstories.com\/?p=3564"},"modified":"2010-02-04T10:58:43","modified_gmt":"2010-02-04T18:58:43","slug":"film-about-blue-brain-attempt-to-build-a-working-brain-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/candlelightstories.com\/Blog\/2010\/02\/04\/film-about-blue-brain-attempt-to-build-a-working-brain-model\/","title":{"rendered":"Film About Blue Brain: Attempt to Build a Working Brain Model"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Using IBM computers, Dr. Henry Markram<\/em><\/a> is building a model of the human brain that he hopes will take about 10 years to complete. Filmmaker Noah Hutton<\/em><\/a> is chronicling the endeavor in an ongoing documentary that will be finished once the brain model exists. This is one of the most fascinating and important efforts I have ever heard about in modern science.\u00a0 The brain project is called Blue Brain<\/em><\/a> and is located at \u00c9cole Polytechnique F\u00e9d\u00e9rale de Lausanne<\/a><\/em>. The idea to build a model based on minute and precise observations of how the brain synapses and cells actually work is a good one. Dr. Markram emphasizes that once you understand certain principles you can start to build models that increase in complexity and accuracy until you have have an understanding of how things work. Careful observation and exact mimicry will lead to a functioning model. Markram goes further to say that eventually you will be able to teach the model languages and watch it learn. He’s talking about artificial intelligence. He’s talking about making a machine think.<\/p>\n

This is the modern world’s alchemy<\/a>.\u00a0 The simplistic understanding of Medieval alchemy is that it was the attempt to turn base metals into gold.\u00a0 We are now trying to turn base metals into thinking beings.\u00a0 It is a logical thing to do.\u00a0 Think about it.\u00a0 Every household and every pocket in almost every developed nation on earth has a small thinking machine in it.\u00a0 What does that really tell you?\u00a0 It tells me that our main effort on a planetary scale – a human species level – is to make machines think.\u00a0 We aren’t going to the moon.\u00a0 Or going to Mars.\u00a0 Or trying to travel to the stars.\u00a0 What we’re actually doing is trying to make metal and electricity think.\u00a0 To live.<\/p>\n

A working model of a brain is going to take us places we never thought we could go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Using IBM computers, Dr. Henry Markram is building a model of the human brain that he hopes will take about 10 years to complete. Filmmaker Noah Hutton is chronicling the endeavor in an ongoing documentary that will be finished once the brain model exists. This is one of the most fascinating and important efforts I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[138,4,319],"tags":[917,674,913],"class_list":["post-3564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-amazing-things","category-movies","category-technology","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-brain","tag-ibm"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t