Scylla, Oreb and transmigrational chain yanking

Dan Meliza · 22 Apr 2002, 18:21 · from urth-v0204.mbox · original

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From: "Dan Meliza" <meliza at ocf.berkeley.edu>
Subject: RE: (urth) Scylla, Oreb and transmigrational chain yanking
Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 11:21:50 -0700
Message-ID: <urth-v0204-759 at digest.urth.net>
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-----Original Message-----
From: Nigel Price [mailto:nigel.a.price at virgin.net]
Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2002 1:19 PM
To: urth at urth.net
Subject: (urth) Scylla, Oreb and transmigrational chain yanking

> (Hmmm. There must be more room in Mr Million than in
> poor old Oreb's head. Mr Million does at least talk in complete sentences.
> Anybody know what the data capacity of a night chough's brain might be?
More
> or less than a fine old Spectrum 48, I wonder?)

It's hard to compare algorithmic computers to brains but I'm almost certain
Oreb has the spectrum 48 beat.  In fact, if he's at least as smart as Alex
the parrot (who can identify objects on the basis of verbal cues) he's
smarter than any software/hardware in existence today, though probably not
in 20-50 years.  Now with a vastly smaller hippocampus and frontal lobes
it's questionable how much of a human-god's memory and personality you could
store in a bird-brain even if you weren't using it.  But then, there must be
some way to vastly compress an intelligence if you're going to send it
through the optic nerves in a few seconds.

now if only this sort of speculation were acceptable at qualifying exams.

cheers,
dan

--=20

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