Re: Sensory modalities and the possibility of semi-arbitrary additions

From: Chris Capel (pdf23ds@gmail.com)
Date: Wed Nov 02 2005 - 19:16:21 MST


On 11/2/05, Phil Goetz <philgoetz@yahoo.com> wrote:
> HOWEVER. The problem that people rarely point out when talking about
> adding new senses is that cortical real estate is expensive. You can't
> add a new sense without giving up something of equal value - either
> giving up another sense, or reducing the range or resolution of that
> sense.

The same thing occurred to me as I was pondering on this post. On the
other hand, if the cortex truly is that generic, it should (hehe) be
possible to extend the cortex with artificial enhancements, in a way
similar to a computer memory upgrade. That's an interesting
possibility.

Chris Capel

--
"What is it like to be a bat? What is it like to bat a bee? What is it
like to be a bee being batted? What is it like to be a batted bee?"
-- The Mind's I (Hofstadter, Dennet)


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