Игорь Волков – Hardware and software of the brain (страница 15)

Programming of desires

Insight programming is closely related to the philosophical problem of the freedom of will. Can we do what we want? Meanwhile, there is another problem. What determines our desires? Using the aforementioned techniques, you can take control in your hands. Just learn necessary associations, and you will automatically get appropriate desires when needed. They consist of 2 parts: informational (what you want) and emotional (want or not). After thorough training, sophisticated behavior becomes easy and efficient. Your associative memory will automatically suggest what to do next.

Know what you program

As in computers, the basic principles of human hardware are very simple. The most of complexity comes from software. It is well structured, not just a pile of uncoordinated reflexes. Knowledge of this structure is crucial for practice. How does it work?

In general, there are 2 major parts. On one hand, each human being maintains an internal picture of the world. It is updated time by time, but most decisions use data from this knowledge base, not real-world measurement. Hence, maintaining it in good correspondence with reality is very important. This concerns different aspects.

First of all, most decisions use not bare facts but some degree of abstraction. We perceive input data, then make conclusions. The process is affected by rules of inference, various thresholds of sensitivity, or simply preference when the situation is ambiguous. Adjusting these factors, you change abstraction created by perception and hence your reactions.

Another important concept is a worldview. This is not the aforementioned knowledge base but its framework. Many basic facts and relations in this world are uncertain. You must choose one value for each parameter. The whole set of such values will be your foundation and will determine reasoning in many particular situations. As an example, you can consider how this affects distinguishing good and evil.

The second part of software is programs proper. They generate visible behavior. Physiology regards interaction between these parts as a reflex, but this is only the simplest case. In reality, they operate mainly independently, but actively affect each other. As an example, let's consider the task when you need to come to a table.

The device being programmed is a Finite State Automaton. It generates principally dynamic output, but the internal representation of such processes as cycles is static. You begin by setting the current state to "going". It generates the movement step by step until the knowledge base signals "near". Then "going" is changed to "stop". Cycles cease and the goal is achieved.

Internally, human programs are represented in neural nets, but you don't need to know details. Necessary functions may be accessed using natural language. You can consider various situations and use ready concepts and relations to describe complex processes in your brain.

In addition, neurocomputing has yet another opportunity. Inductive programming. You can watch how others perform some activity. Your brain will automatically analyze it and form necessary concepts subconsciously. Then, you will solve similar tasks yourself despite being unable to formulate it in general terms and explain how you do it.

Streaming versus quasistatic activity

These are different modes of operation applicable to virtually any activity from limb movements to logical reasoning. In biomechanics the former is known as a ballistic movement. Muscles are contracted with high speed and large force, then the limb moves by inertia. The movement in the middle is uncontrollable. Alternatively, it may be performed slowly using both concurrent agonist and antagonist muscles. At any moment, the limb position is defined by the balance of their forces and this work point smoothly shifts. The movement may be stopped anywhere in the middle. Then, the process may resume.

They may use different types of short-term memory. The former – local cortical mechanisms similar to sensitization. The latter – looping through the limbic system. Their time range affects speed. The problem is to forget the current image when it is not needed anymore. In the first case, it disappears by itself within minutes, maybe seconds. The latter is slower. Also the first may not use memory at all. The current image is maintained by external input.

When you make decisions on the fly, the images involved even aren't formed completely. Just initial stages are used. That's why it is so easy to switch over in this mode. If you start to think thoroughly, it is difficult to get rid of his idea.

Memory management

Finally, how to remember necessary rules and concepts? The simplest method is just to tell them using language, but this works not always. Also self-programming may happen nonverbally. Physiology explored these processes in fine details. The mechanism is that synaptic plasticity is activated by neuromodulators released by certain structures of the limbic system. Similar substances are released during the feeling of joy and pleasure. The task is to have a necessary image or association and activate those nuclei consciously. This may be achieved by training. As a first approximation, just try to concentrate attention. You may also train to regulate the overall level of arousal. That is to achieve the effect of drinking coffee using your own internal biochemistry. Finally, the same substances are released during involuntary learning in biologically significant situations. In the process, you feel certain emotions. You may create such situations on purpose and watch using introspection. Remember the feeling, then try to reproduce it voluntarily.

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