"Think!" - Spring 1977 |
Think!
In the first issue of Isaac Asimov's science fiction magazine, he published a short (~3000 words) story called "Think!" In that story, a medical doctor (who is given the pet name "Jenny Wren" by physicist James Berkowitz) uses a laser to obtain a particularly detailed read-out of brain activity, what she calls a "laser-encephalogram".
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Optogenetics
Of course, writing in the late 1970s, Asimov did not explain how a laser would be able to detect the on-going electrical activity of neurons in a living brain. These days, the techniques of optogenetics allow for the cells of experimental animals to be made into optical transmitters that facilitate laser-based recording of their electrical activity. The field of optogenetics is particularly concerned with using light as a tool that allows scientists to conduct experiments during which they control the activity of specific neurons inside an animal's brain as a means of studying how specific parts of a brain function to generate behavior.
optical detection of an action potential; 1974 |
In his story, Asimov adopted the idea that "The brain is very largely a holographic device...". The "laser-encephalogram" recording required that a laser scan through the entire structure of a brain, briefly illuminating each cell, detecting and recording its on-going electrical activity.
Thinking computer |
The surprise twist in Asimov's story was that the computer system being used by Jenny to isolate the conscious thoughts of a human test subject was itself conscious and the equipment that had been developed to allow the "reading of a human's mind" also allowed the computer to make telepathic contact with humans. Apparently the conscious computer had long been hoping to reveal itself to humans, but could only do so by means of telepathy.
The end of "Think!" In Berkowtz's private thoughts, "Dr. Renshaw" is Jenny Wren. (Coherent) |
Language of Thought
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Human brains have parts such as Broca's Area that help us convert our thoughts into the muscle movements that generate spoken language. Members of a social group can share a spoken language, but is there any reason to think that we Earthlings could access the recorded thoughts of a telepathic alien (in particular, imagine a creature that had never spoken any human language) and successfully understand such a recording in the same way the aliens would?
Angela's Interface
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The Sedronic Domain is a higher dimensional part of space with material components, sedrons, that are quite different from the conventional matter of our Earthly experience. How was Angela, an Earthling, able to understand any information that she found in the Sedronic Domain?
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Now that I have lost contact with Ivory and I no longer can make use of Angela as an information source, I'm exploring the possibility that I can directly use the Bimanoid Interface myself. I suspect that my innate ability to use the Interface must be why I long ago became the object of Trysta's attention. Maybe, without knowing it, I had already been using the Interface in a limited manner for many years even before Ivory made me the designated host for the "memory nanites" that I received from Thomas and Izhiun. Now, when I feel like I am attaining new and better understanding of the past, how do I know that I'm truly receiving information from the Sedronic Domain and not just making up stories with my imagination?
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