• Don Wade
    211
    This morning, on a internet news broadcast, was an article on monkeys playing "Pong" on a computer. What might be next? https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/09/tech/elon-musk-neuralink-pong-scli-intl/index.html .
  • Banno
    24.8k



    Obviously.
  • ernest meyer
    100
    That really freaked me out. I got a job after college drilling holes in animal brains and seeing how it changed their behavior. After a while I noticed their most frequent behavior when I was in the lab. Looking at me. After a while I got the screamy meamies like they did if I opened their cages.

    Of course those experiments were in the cortex, and this is in the cerebellum for motor control but just being reminded of it still freaks me out.
  • Don Wade
    211
    Of course those experiments were in the cortex, and this is in the cerebellum for motor control but just being reminded of it still freaks me out.ernest meyer

    Yes, it is freaky. Make one wonder just what else is going on. I didn't even know monkeys could understand the concept of Pong.
  • ernest meyer
    100
    Not so weird. When they hit the ball right a machine gives them a food pellet within a second, together with an immediate different sound to cue the association directly. Monkeys are fast learners, you only need to show them it working a couple of times and they do it themselves. Human beings only need the sound, lol.
  • Tex
    42
    When they hit the ball right a machine gives them a food pelleternest meyer

    So were they really "playing" pong then? Or did they just figure out how to get food? I don't think they were "playing" pong in the same sense as if you and I played pong.
bold
italic
underline
strike
code
quote
ulist
image
url
mention
reveal
youtube
tweet
Add a Comment

Welcome to The Philosophy Forum!

Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.