april, 2012  

i know he's right - i've concluded the same thing through my own calculations, and while my calculations are undoubtedly less complex, i may argue that the problem of whether this is in our reach or not is perhaps less complex than he's undoubtedly constructed - but i'm still holding out hope that a big break through in quantum computing combined with a revolutionary epiphany may get us closer....

i know it's just hope, though. mortality sucks.

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Horgan: Is DARPA [the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency] supporting your research at Caltech because it wants to create bionic soldiers?

Koch: No

Horgan: I’ll take your word for it. Have you become a member of the Singularity cult? Because I would find that very depressing.

Koch: Most certainly not. I have an article under revision right now that provides a quantitative argument for why the belief that we will understand the brain of a mouse, let alone that of a human, within a decade is as sound as the belief that the rapture is imminent.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/2012/04/02/christof-koch-on-free-will-the-singularity-and-the-quest-to-crack-consciousness/?WT.mc_id=SA_MindFacebook