Post by tkorrovi on Nov 14, 2003 8:40:23 GMT -5
Absolutely dynamic systems seem to be strange, so there may be a question where in nature such or similar systems may appear. But there is some indirect evidence. There is some evidence that after some damage the damaged areas of the nervous system would be replaced by new neurons, what start to perform the same functions as the damaged area and also have the same or similar structure. This means that new neuron must connect together that what was not connected together. Also there is evidence that some neurons what do not fit in their place would die, these may well be neurons what are not connected to the surrounding area. Of course the growth of the neurons is too slow to perform any thinking process. But if we look inside the neuron, then the picture is similar to that inside brain, there is also a huge network, but instead neurons there are structures of microtubules, and it is known that these structures constantly change. So it may be that the growth of the neurons repeats that what happens inside the neurons, the change of their internal structure. But the change of the structures of microtubules (flagella etc) is also likely much too slow. Neuron has up to 12 000 dendrites and as human memory is most likely much more than a size of the hard disk, then there must be extensive processing in a neuron, by some estimates we need speed some 50 000 times faster than modern PC. If we consider absolutely dynamic systems, then on modern computer the speed is normal when maximum number of links in a knot is 400. When the maximum number of links in a knot increases, then speed decreases in cube. If we consider that the maximum number of dendrites in some way reflects the maximum number of links in a knot, then we need speed 12 000 ^ 3 / 400 ^ 3 = 27 000 times faster than a modern PC, ie more than 50 000 GHz. Not much else than quantum processes can give such speed. So it may be again that what happens in the structures of microtubules repeats what happens in much lower level.