Review - The Primate Mind - Psychology

Review - The Primate Mind - Psychology: One of the most intriguing is found in the first section "From Understanding the Actions of Others to Culture" in which several authors review current research on mirror neurons and other neural systems in primates in an attempt to show how this neural structure offers a mechanistic explanation of how primates are affected by the behavior of others. What is distinctive about this approach is the authors' contribution to the topics of imitation and culture in primates by attempting to show how mirror neurons and the neural processing of others may be the building blocks for the evolution of imitation, empathy, and social rules in primates.

Stanford biologist and computer scientist discover the 'anternet' | School of Engineering

Stanford biologist and computer scientist discover the 'anternet' | School of Engineering: "Ants have discovered an algorithm that we know well, and they've been doing it for millions of years," Prabhakar said.

Does Self-Awareness Require a Complex Brain? | Brainwaves, Scientific American Blog Network

Does Self-Awareness Require a Complex Brain? | Brainwaves, Scientific American Blog Network: "Presumably, human infants are conscious—they perceive and respond to people and things around them—but they are not yet self-aware."

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Does Self-Awareness Require a Complex Brain? | Brainwaves, Scientific American Blog Network

Does Self-Awareness Require a Complex Brain? | Brainwaves, Scientific American Blog Network: "Humans are more than just conscious—they are also self-aware. Scientists differ on the difference between consciousness and self-awareness, but here is one common explanation: Consciousness is awareness of one’s body and one’s environment; self-awareness is recognition of that consciousness—not only understanding that one exists, but further understanding that one is aware of one’s existence. Another way of thinking about it: To be conscious is to think; to be self-aware is to realize that you are a thinking being and to think about your thoughts. Presumably, human infants are conscious—they perceive and respond to people and things around them—but they are not yet self-aware. In their first years of life, infants develop a sense of self, learn to recognize themselves in the mirror and to distinguish their own point of view from other people’s perspectives."

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Brain complexity led humans to evolve differently than chimps

Brain complexity led humans to evolve differently than chimps: ""The biggest differences occurred in the expression of human genes involved in plasticity - the ability of the brain to process information and adapt. This supports the premise that the human brain evolved to enable higher rates of learning," said Konopka."

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Frontiers | The role of prediction in social neuroscience | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

Frontiers | The role of prediction in social neuroscience | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience: "These accounts of the mirror neuron system highlight the potential role of predictive mechanisms, particularly simulation, and inference with the predictive coding, and associative learning accounts, in social interaction. Consequently, these accounts could legitimately be extended to highlight the role of prediction, simulation and inference in other non-motor social cognitions associated with mirror neuron activity. Inference-based accounts of the mirror neuron system could potentially apply to some examples of work in social neuroscience showing that mirror neuron activity has been implicated in the distinction between self and other (Sinigaglia and Rizzolatti, 2011), mentalizing (De Lange et al., 2008; Centelles et al., 2011) and simulation of emotions (Bastiaansen et al., 2009). Even though the mirror neuron hypothesis provides a very appealing explanation for the processing of others' actions, there are other theories also related to predictive mechanisms that propose integrative frameworks for sensorimotor control and social interaction."

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The Nature of Consciousness: How the Internet Could Learn to Feel - Steve Paulson - The Atlantic

The Nature of Consciousness: How the Internet Could Learn to Feel - Steve Paulson - The Atlantic: "Koch: What I'm serious about is that the Internet, in principle, could have conscious states. Now, do these conscious states express happiness? Do they express pain? Pleasure? Anger? Red? Blue? That really depends on the exact kind of relationship between the transistors, the nodes, the computers. It's more difficult to ascertain what exactly it feels. But there's no question that in principle it could feel something.

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Christof Koch: Consciousness Is Everywhere

Christof Koch: Consciousness Is Everywhere: "No matter what the NCC will prove to be, a skeptic can always ask why does this particular NCC give rise to a conscious experience but not another one? The cause and effect between neuronal activity in the brain and conscious thought can seem as magical as rubbing a brass lamp and having a genie emerge. It is here that the ideas of Giulio Tononi, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, prove crucial. He advocates for a sophisticated theory that links information to consciousness. His integrated information theory introduces a precise measure capturing the extent of consciousness called Φ (phi). Expressed in bits, phi quantifies the extent to which any system of interacting parts is both differentiated and integrated when that system enters a particular state. Any one conscious experience is both highly differentiated from any other one but also unitary, holistic. The larger the phi, the richer the conscious experience of that system. Furthermore, the theory assigns any state of any network of causally interacting parts (these neurons are firing, those are quiet) to a shape in a high-dimensional space."

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Christof Koch: Consciousness Is Everywhere

Christof Koch: Consciousness Is Everywhere: "The belief in human exceptionalism, so strongly rooted in the Judeo-Christian view of the world, flies in the face of all evidence for the structural and behavioral continuity between animals and people"

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Octopuses Gain Consciousness (According to Scientists’ Declaration) | Octopus Chronicles, Scientific American Blog Network

Octopuses Gain Consciousness (According to Scientists’ Declaration) | Octopus Chronicles, Scientific American Blog Network: "Elephants cooperate to solve problems. Chimpanzees teach youngsters to make tools. Even octopuses seem to be able to plan. So should we humans really be surprised that “consciousness” probably does not only exist in us?

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Cybernetics and Design � .:: Peta Konsep Anak Bangsa ::.

Cybernetics and Design � .:: Peta Konsep Anak Bangsa ::.: of just about any other word you can think of in order to generically connote “futuristic” or “computer-enabled” or “electronic”. Actually, cybernetics is, quite generally, the study of “observed and observing systems”, or the study and theory of any system that uses feedback and correction in order to pursue specific goals.

Cybernetics and Design � .:: Peta Konsep Anak Bangsa ::.

Cybernetics and Design � .:: Peta Konsep Anak Bangsa ::.: of just about any other word you can think of in order to generically connote “futuristic” or “computer-enabled” or “electronic”. Actually, cybernetics is, quite generally, the study of “observed and observing systems”, or the study and theory of any system that uses feedback and correction in order to pursue specific goals.