The Brain Case
Essay by cuprncake • November 24, 2012 • Research Paper • 693 Words (3 Pages) • 1,309 Views
Merriam-Webster dictionary version of the brain is the portion of the vertebrate central nervous system that constitutes the organ of thought and neural coordination, includes all the higher nervous centers receiving stimuli from the sense organs and interpreting and correlating them to formulate the motor impulses, is made up of neurons and supporting and nutritive structures, is enclosed within the skull, and is continuous within the spinal cord through the foramen magnum. This is the physiological structure and function of the brain.
There is a disagreement with the phrase that the brain is a "meat machine", as the brain is much more. If it has to be compared, it is more like a bank. There are numerous deposits and withdrawals throughout a lifetime. There are transfers of information. There are short term and long-term memory banks. The only thing lacking is of course it does not gain any interest I n the form of percentages. The statement of the "meat machine" consists of the physiological structure. The brain consists of billions of neurons and each one is connected to between 10 and 10,000 others through synapses. Ideas are recalled when a cluster of neurons are activated.
A metaphor is a figure of speech. It can be used when comparing the brain with artificial intelligence. For example, when speaking about a robot. A robot can have a brain, almost like a human brain. The robot however, will lack emotions and abstract thinking. Emotions are a part of the brain function and come about to a person depending on the situation. For example a mother crying at her sons' graduation ceremony. There are two feelings sadness at the loss of her baby boy and joy that she raised a young gentleman. A robot cannot have these emotions. Artificial intelligence lacks biases, and personal experiences or life experiences. There is lack of developmental stages, a process that every human must go through. Some humans are stuck at a certain developmental stage either due to brain injury or chromosomal defect.
Brain 3
The most obvious difference between humans and artificial intelligence is the mind, and the ability to accumulate knowledge and pass it on to the descendants. Another highly developed ability is of humans is that they can be shut off by the sheer terror of a single aching tooth. This also applies for other strong feelings like hatred, grief or pain in general. These emotions can make people act against their better knowledge and principles; these being higher developed parts of the mind.
If people were given control of their vital functions that the brain controls they would die. For example, if people were able to simply ignore hunger, they would starve to death. If they had control of their lungs consciously, they would sooner or later suffocate. Additionally, most emotions are accompanied by physical symptoms, such
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