
Crystal Mimics Learning and Forgetting - dnetesn
http://nautil.us/blog/this-crystal-mimics-learning-and-forgetting
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tw1010
"This bit of silicon mimics learning and forgetting"

The philosophical implications of this research is not what's interesting.
Computers are not brains but they mimic a lot of its behaviour. The title is
mostly clickbait.

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sebular
I think the idea is that this is found in nature as a single material. Silicon
doesn't do anything remotely brain-like until humans etch intricate patterns
in it and run precise electrical currents through them.

I think the use of neural networks is a kind of boring approach to studying
this crystal. Of course the algorithm it uses is going to be more adaptable
than an arbitrary algorithm selected by the researcher, otherwise they would
have chosen a different algorithm to prove the truism.

I'm more interested in hearing about the physical mechanism by which a crystal
manages to store and forget information, and some theory about how this could
have come to exist without resorting to life-based arguments like survival of
the fittest or evolution.

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radicaldreamer
Discoveries like this combined with discoveries about thermodynamics models
mimicking "societal" behavior like cooperation will change how we define
sentience and conscious "life" and life processes.

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deepnotderp
The standards for what qualifies as "learning" appears to be very low here. A
low endurance memristor would qualify here.

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jdmoreira
am I the only one imagining some crystal based lifeform out there, somewhere?

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m3kw9
If you put a black box over it, the crystal is exhibit one type of learning
mode that complex learner like humans has many modes; the ability to adapt and
filter

