| The intuitive algorithm.Roger Penrose considered it | | | | impossible to keep throwing everything you've |
| impossible. Thinking could never imitate a | | | | got into the computation every time. But, that is |
| computer process. He said as much in his book, | | | | exactly what the brain does. Consciousness is |
| The Emperor's New Mind. But, a new book, The | | | | about bringing your entire history to bear on your |
| Intuitive Algorithm, (IA), suggested that intuition | | | | next step, your next breath, your next moment." |
| was a pattern recognition process. Intuition | | | | The mind was holistic. It evaluated all its |
| propelled information through many neural regions | | | | knowledge for the next activity. How could so |
| like a lightning streak. Data moved from input to | | | | much information be processed so quickly? Where |
| output in a reported 20 milliseconds. The mind | | | | could such knowledge be stored?Exponential |
| saw, recognized, interpreted and acted. In the | | | | growth of the search pathUnfortunately, the |
| blink of an eye. Myriad processes converted light, | | | | recognition of subtle patterns posed formidable |
| sound, touch and smell instantly into your nerve | | | | problems for computers. The difficulty was an |
| impulses. A dedicated region recognized those | | | | exponential growth of the recognition search path. |
| impulses as objects and events. The limbic | | | | The problems in the diagnosis of diseases was |
| system, another region, interpreted those events | | | | typical. Normally, many shared symptoms were |
| to generate emotions. A fourth region responded | | | | presented by a multitude of diseases. For |
| to those emotions with actions. The mind | | | | example, pain, or fever could be indicated for |
| perceived, identified, evaluated and acted. Intuition | | | | many diseases. Each symptom pointed to several |
| got you off the hot stove in a fraction of a | | | | diseases. The problem was to recognize a single |
| second. And it could be using a simple algorithm.Is | | | | pattern among many overlapping patterns. When |
| instant holistic evaluation impossible?The system, | | | | searching for the target disease, the first selected |
| with over a hundred billion neurons, processed the | | | | ailment with the first presented symptom could |
| information from input to output in just half a | | | | lack the second symptom. This meant back and |
| second. All your knowledge was evaluated. Walter | | | | forth searches, which expanded exponentially as |
| Freeman, the famous neurobiologist, defined this | | | | the database of diseases increased in size. |
| amazing ability. "The cognitive guys think it's just | | | | |