Category: Biology of Information
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Does the quality of “Smart Information Processing” connect with the Default Mode Network ?
I was triggered by an article in Nature, explaining the atypical connectome hierarchy in ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). ASD is characterized by atypical sensory processing, while and deficits in high-level cognitive and social functions, including impairments in Theory of Mind and predictive abilities. The article points out that ASD might emerge from disturbances in macroscale cortical…
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The Information Lens – helping to correct the failure of the Perceptron
In the rich history of information processing, the idea of the perceptron occurred, based on the founding ideas of the artificial neuron (McCulloch and Pitts, 1943). Including the available knowledge of learning, Frank Rosenblatt constructed the perceptron devices, building the first of artificial learning machines, and as such creating the first neural nets in 1957. As referenced in “Calling Bullshit” (Ch. 8, intro),…
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Biological thinking – BCG
I want to share this BCG article on Biological Thinking, messy management for a complex world. Biological thinking matters for several important reasons: First, in complex adaptive systems, there is no single formula or framework that always works. In fact, the very defiance of formulaic problem solving is what makes CAS management so challenging initially.…
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Friston: The Genius Neuroscientist Who Might Hold the Key to True AI, WIRED says.
Karl Friston’s free energy principle might be the most all-encompassing idea since Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection. But to understand it, you need to peer inside the mind of Friston himself. Wired has a great article on this idea and researcher.Some inspiring exerpts and quotes: He realized that [it] had no larger purpose, at…
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Coarse-graining as a downward causation mechanism
Apparent downward causation does not demand that estimates of aggregate properties be correct or even good predictors of the system’s future state or successful strategies (although that would be useful). Furthermore, components do not need to agree in their estimates of the variables. Apparent downward causation becomes effective downward causation—the strong form—when: As an interaction or environmental…
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When science hits a limit, learn to ask different questions
The fish will be the last to discover water. https://aeon.co/ideas/when-science-hits-a-limit-learn-to-ask-different-questions
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The information theory of individuality
Krakauer, D., Bertschinger, N., Olbrich, E. et al. The information theory of individuality. Theory Biosci. 139, 209–223 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12064-020-00313-7 Despite the near universal assumption of individuality in biology, there is little agreement about what individuals are and few rigorous quantitative methods for their identification. Here, we propose that individuals are aggregates that preserve a measure of temporal integrity, i.e., “propagate”…
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