Simple circuits can create complex behaviors

(aatishb.com)

94 points | by aatish 4 days ago

10 comments

  • tancop 1 hour ago
    > If you saw creatures behaving like this in the wild, you might attribute some rudimentary intelligence to them.

    > But we’ve just shown you how this apparent intelligence arises from the bottom up, with just four neurons and two connections. There’s no magic here. In this view, behavior emerges from neural circuits.

    Isn't the conclusion here that very simple behaviors like the sparks are intelligent? I would say even a single neuron has some tiny amount of intelligence, and what the author means by "no magic" and "emergent behavior" is just a different perspective that minimizes it.

    • WarmWash 1 hour ago
      Intelligence is an arbitrary term humans assign to stuff subjectively.

      Take out the "human" and it's all just algos on a scale of complexity.

      • pkoird 57 minutes ago
        Agreed. Take human out and any system capable of doing an if-else is intelligent to a certain degree.
        • RandomLensman 49 minutes ago
          If basically everything is intelligent (e.g., incl. rather simple chemistry), does that word mean much then/is it a useful term?
          • IshKebab 35 minutes ago
            Yes, words that label parts of continua are useful, even if they don't have well defined boundaries.

            Kind of amazing how simple that fact is and how many arguments are caused by people not realising that it's true.

            Here are some examples: town, artery, yellow, loud, tall, kind, woman, road...

            Honestly it's hard to think of words that do not exist on a continuum. The exceptions are mostly low level maths/physics things.

            • RandomLensman 31 minutes ago
              Sorry, but if everything is intelligent then why is a word for it even needed like it is used today - stating that intelligence is an intrinsic property of matter, moves the discussion quite a bit, I think, as it changes what we denote there.

              Unlike "artery" which certainly isn't every blood vessel or "yellow" that isn't every color.

              • kylecazar 19 minutes ago
                "Intelligence" = vessel or color in your example

                There are words that distinguish between types/degrees of intelligence. Basal/proto intelligence applies to cells and bacteria. Somatic intelligence is a level higher at tissue. Superintelligence you've no doubt heard of.

                It's true that "intelligence" is general/umbrella and doesn't have much meaning, but more specific terms do exist.

                • RandomLensman 17 minutes ago
                  So intelligence is an intrinsic property of matter then? It's not a mainstream view now, but who knows.
              • AndrewKemendo 20 minutes ago
                Most human societies claim dominance over “everything else” aka “nature” and in order to do that you need a reason “humans” are different from “nature”
                • RandomLensman 16 minutes ago
                  Maybe, but making intelligence an intrinsic property of matter feels like a bold step.
  • dvh 4 minutes ago
  • TehCorwiz 1 hour ago
    Growing up I tinkered with BEAM robotics. It's a philosophy of design that begins with these types of very simple reactive circuits usually from scavenged parts. It's nice to see someone break down the effect of different variables in the design.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BEAM_robotics

  • georgestrakhov 2 hours ago
    Check out Valentino Braitenberg's vehicles. It's one of my favourite books ever.
    • mikeegg1 2 hours ago
      I came here to mention that book.
  • vatsachak 1 hour ago
    A similar mechanism is how lactobacillus actually find food even though their motor propels them in random directions.

    They have sensors for the concentration of food and basically stop moving when it's good enough and start when it's low.

  • sheepseb 1 hour ago
    Read this and instantly though about Elmer and Elsie, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_and_Elsie_(robots)
  • bob1029 2 hours ago
  • thenthenthen 3 hours ago
    Best thing is, you can physically build this with a few discrete analog components! Search terms: light-bot, or light following robot. You can try to create swarms adding a light to the rear end of your robot
  • Borrible 2 hours ago
    [flagged]
  • SadErn 2 hours ago
    [dead]