Dr. Terry Sejnowski

What a great question. And, you know, I have a... Pat Churchland and I wrote a book, Computational Brain, and in it, there's this levels diagram.

What a great question. And, you know, I have a... Pat Churchland and I wrote a book, Computational Brain, and in it, there's this levels diagram.

What a great question. And, you know, I have a... Pat Churchland and I wrote a book, Computational Brain, and in it, there's this levels diagram.

And levels of investigation at different spatial scales from the molecular at the very bottom to synapses and neurons, circuits, neural circuits, how they're connected with each other, and then brain areas in the cortex and then the whole central nervous system span 10 orders of magnitude, you know, 10th to the 10th in spatial scale. So, you know, where is consciousness in all of that?

And levels of investigation at different spatial scales from the molecular at the very bottom to synapses and neurons, circuits, neural circuits, how they're connected with each other, and then brain areas in the cortex and then the whole central nervous system span 10 orders of magnitude, you know, 10th to the 10th in spatial scale. So, you know, where is consciousness in all of that?

And levels of investigation at different spatial scales from the molecular at the very bottom to synapses and neurons, circuits, neural circuits, how they're connected with each other, and then brain areas in the cortex and then the whole central nervous system span 10 orders of magnitude, you know, 10th to the 10th in spatial scale. So, you know, where is consciousness in all of that?

So there are two approaches that neuroscientists have taken. I shouldn't say neuroscientists, I should say that scientists have taken. And the one you described, which is, you know, let's look at all the parts, that's the bottom-up approach. You know, take it apart and do a reductionist approach. And you make a lot of progress.

So there are two approaches that neuroscientists have taken. I shouldn't say neuroscientists, I should say that scientists have taken. And the one you described, which is, you know, let's look at all the parts, that's the bottom-up approach. You know, take it apart and do a reductionist approach. And you make a lot of progress.

So there are two approaches that neuroscientists have taken. I shouldn't say neuroscientists, I should say that scientists have taken. And the one you described, which is, you know, let's look at all the parts, that's the bottom-up approach. You know, take it apart and do a reductionist approach. And you make a lot of progress.

You can figure out, you know, how things are connected and understand how development works, how neurons connect. But it's very difficult to really make progress because quickly you get lost in the forest. Now, the other approach, which has been successful, but at the end unsatisfying, is the top-down approach.

You can figure out, you know, how things are connected and understand how development works, how neurons connect. But it's very difficult to really make progress because quickly you get lost in the forest. Now, the other approach, which has been successful, but at the end unsatisfying, is the top-down approach.

You can figure out, you know, how things are connected and understand how development works, how neurons connect. But it's very difficult to really make progress because quickly you get lost in the forest. Now, the other approach, which has been successful, but at the end unsatisfying, is the top-down approach.

And this is the approach that psychologists have taken looking at behavior and trying to understand the laws of behavior. This is the behaviorists. But even people in AI were trying to do a top-down to write programs that could replicate human behavior, intelligent behavior.

And this is the approach that psychologists have taken looking at behavior and trying to understand the laws of behavior. This is the behaviorists. But even people in AI were trying to do a top-down to write programs that could replicate human behavior, intelligent behavior.

And this is the approach that psychologists have taken looking at behavior and trying to understand the laws of behavior. This is the behaviorists. But even people in AI were trying to do a top-down to write programs that could replicate human behavior, intelligent behavior.

And I have to say that both of those approaches, bottom up or top down, have really not gotten to the core of answering any of those questions, the big questions. But there's a whole new approach now that is emerging in both neuroscience and AI at exactly the same time. At this moment in history, it's really quite remarkable.

And I have to say that both of those approaches, bottom up or top down, have really not gotten to the core of answering any of those questions, the big questions. But there's a whole new approach now that is emerging in both neuroscience and AI at exactly the same time. At this moment in history, it's really quite remarkable.

And I have to say that both of those approaches, bottom up or top down, have really not gotten to the core of answering any of those questions, the big questions. But there's a whole new approach now that is emerging in both neuroscience and AI at exactly the same time. At this moment in history, it's really quite remarkable.

So there's an intermediate level between the implementation level at the bottom, how you implement some particular mechanism. And the actual behavior of the whole system is called the algorithmic system. level. It's in between. So algorithms are like recipes. They're like when you bake a cake, you have to have ingredients and you have to say the order in which they're put together and how long.

So there's an intermediate level between the implementation level at the bottom, how you implement some particular mechanism. And the actual behavior of the whole system is called the algorithmic system. level. It's in between. So algorithms are like recipes. They're like when you bake a cake, you have to have ingredients and you have to say the order in which they're put together and how long.