tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770580070906411828.post7302243915163182448..comments2024-03-22T05:55:48.117-04:00Comments on The Pervocracy: Short Essays from the ER.Cliff Pervocracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02080142422250604406noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770580070906411828.post-73262896843241944402010-06-06T11:16:16.443-04:002010-06-06T11:16:16.443-04:00Very awesome post! In relation to the brain, the C...Very awesome post! In relation to the brain, the CT scan is only showing you structures at a size scale that is way larger than the fundamental unit of information processing, which are synapses, and which are on the order of one millionth of a meter in diameter. There are trillions of synapses in the human brain, and that provides the complexity required to produce such intricate cognitive function.Comrade PhysioProfhttp://physioprof.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770580070906411828.post-10379561388494092832010-06-06T04:22:40.453-04:002010-06-06T04:22:40.453-04:00Well, if you go with the overused computer metapho...Well, if you go with the overused computer metaphor, just looking at the pyshical aspects of the brain is like looking at the CPU and hard drive. But the computer is far much more than just that. Both are largely irrelevant without the other parts (the case, the power box, the keyboard, the monitor, etc.). And even all those things are irrelevant without various pieces of software, which in modern computers is probably more complicated than the hardware. And even that doesn't take into account that knowing what most of the individual parts in the CPU and Hard Drive do in a general sense doesn't say very much about what it's like to use an actual computer as a whole entity.<br /><br />So no, when you see just the physical structure of the brain, you're definitely not seeing who they are as a full person.Not Menoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770580070906411828.post-7176623869151999392010-06-05T23:47:45.292-04:002010-06-05T23:47:45.292-04:00Maybe not sexy, but still awesome stories.Maybe not sexy, but still awesome stories.Kaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770580070906411828.post-54537883688558697532010-06-05T22:55:10.728-04:002010-06-05T22:55:10.728-04:00Cytenga - The brain looks gray on a CT scan, thoug...Cytenga - The brain looks gray on a CT scan, though. Living brain (and actually, dead brain too, it's never really gray) is pinkish.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.popovic.com.au/imgs/awakecraniotomy.jpg" rel="nofollow">Yucky picture of living brain.</a><br /><br />The grey goo scenario is one of those concepts I don't even like to think about. Brrr.Cliff Pervocracyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02080142422250604406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770580070906411828.post-81349909365738702422010-06-05T22:46:56.248-04:002010-06-05T22:46:56.248-04:00I hear that the living brain is actually kind of r...I hear that the living brain is actually kind of reddish and pulpy -- it's gray only after it's been preserved in formalin. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goo" rel="nofollow">grey goo</a> is something else entirely.cytengahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18036495792528055597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770580070906411828.post-68915222119891409212010-06-05T21:20:17.151-04:002010-06-05T21:20:17.151-04:00Interesting stuff :-)Interesting stuff :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com