Wet Between the Ears
Sensations are received by a certain definite number of sensor nerves, which constitute the only means we possess of obtaining a knowledge of the external world.
The sensor nerves pass to the brain, and then come in contact with a highly vascular tissue, called the grey matter of the brain;
Inasmuch as the sensor nerves come in contact with blood-vessels, it follows from voltaic laws, that a voltaic battery exists in the brain, which is opposed to that in the body, and by which the electro-biological circuit is completed.
Smee 1849
Julia and Sam are talking about the following article:
Lecture ON ELECTRO-BIOLOGY; OR, THE VOLTAIC MECHANISM OF MAN

In this post the dialogue is realised by an interaction of virtual characters, for more information please check the page “Virtual characters“

Julia
I’m not sure it would qualify as an artificial neural network nowadays, but there was this doctor and metallurgist, working on electro-biology: Alfred Smee

Julia
He thought that all thought was based on electrical activity in the brain which we could use as a model for a machine

Sam
That’s amazing! 😁 I didn’t know that …

Julia
It seems he conjectured you’d need an artificial neural network the size of London to model a whole human brain

Sam
Ha! 😅 He was probably right, early computers where absolutely massive, and supercomputers still are

Julia
With the technology of his time this could probably never have been built, he even guessed that the machine would self-destruct by using it …

Sam
It really is surprising how old some ideas are, and has to wait for technology to catch up so we can realize them!

Julia
But a lot of there machines were never built: Babbage’s analytical engine, for instance

Sam
Or Turing’s Machine, indeed, the idea was enough to prove that something was or wasn’t possible

Julia
That’s very interesting! 🤔

Sam
Well, I guess that you could compare and contrast Smee and Babbage in that respect

Sam
Babbage did not consider his machine as a model for the mind, but developed his ideas from the technology that was available

Sam
Smee tried to design a machine based on what they then understood of the brain, but the technology wasn’t there yet

Julia
But now it is?

Sam
Not exactly, as I mentioned to Manuel, artificial neural netword can’t really compete with our organic brains

Julia
So the idea of copying the brain still can’t be realized?

Sam
With some extreme simplifications, maybe a little bit …

Julia
Tell me more! 😊

Sam
I think I need to make a few distinctions first, like between hardware, software, and … wetware

Julia
Wetware!? 🤔
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