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Newsgroups: net.ai
Subject: parallel processing in the brain
Message-ID: <16416@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 31-Jan-84 09:15:02 EST
Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.16416
Posted: Tue Jan 31 09:15:02 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 9-Feb-84 03:21:35 EST
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From:  Dana S. Nau 

       From: Rene Bach 
       What are the evidences that the brain is a parallel processor?  My own
       introspection seem to indicate that mine is doing time-sharing.  That is
       I can follow only one idea at a time, but with a lot of switching
       between reasoning paths (often more non directed than controlled
       switching).

Does that mean you hold your breath and stop thinking while you're
walking, and stop walking in order to breathe or think?

More pointedly, I think it's incorrect to consider only
consciously-controlled processes when we talk about whether or not
the brain is doing parallel processing.  Perhaps the conscious part
of your mind can keep track of only one thing at a time, but most
(probably >90%) of the processing done by the brain is subconscious.

For example, most of us have to think a LOT about what we're doing
when we're first learning to drive.  But after a while, it becomes
largely automatic, and the conscious part of our mind is freed to
think about other things while we're driving.

As another example, have you ever had the experience of trying
unsuccessfully to remember something, and later remembering
whatever-it-was while you were thinking about something else?
SOME kind of processing was going on in the interim, or you
wouldn't have remembered whatever-it-was.