3. Molecular Structure of Brain Cannot Explain Intelligence
Intelligence is an attribute that is present in all life forms to
different degrees, and not just in humans. Many animals like elephants[9] and
chimpanzees[10] have been shown to have intelligence. Even single celled organisms like amoebae
have demonstrated conscious intelligence when gathering food, and avoiding
predators. Therefore, intelligence is not something unique to the human brain only.Let us focus on human intelligence
now. Sometimes we find that a healthy person with a fully functional brain becomes
mad. Conversely, we find many examples of persons sustaining brain injury who still retain their
intelligence. So intelligence cannot be closely tied with the physical
structure of the brain.
Even within the brain, it is well known that a large fraction of
the tissues, those belonging to the cerebellum, are dedicated to performing
routine tasks, like breath, balance, sleep cycles, which do not require any intelligence. How is it that
a large part of the brain, having the same physical structure as the rest of
the brain, does not possess intelligence?Different, physically separate
areas of the brain are associated with
different sensory activities, like hearing, seeing and motion. For visual
perception alone, different sets of neurons process information regarding
color, motion, and shape. Still we are
able to form a unified perception of objects. This problem is referred to as
the "binding problem." It supports the argument that physical
structure of the brain itself is not
sufficient for conscious intelligence.Lastly, the interconnected network
of neurons that form the brain can be modeled in computer science using
artificial neural networks [11]. These neural
networks could be fabricated into silicon chips. A neural network can be
made arbitrarily complicated by defining all kinds of interconnections between
the artificial neurons. Then a simulation of
these networks should be able to evoke intelligence, just as the brain
is claimed to do. After all, the only difference between the two is that the
brain is made of organic neurons, whereas artificial neural networks could be made out of silicon.
In fact, these neural networks could just be simulated as algorithms on a
computer. If the functioning of the brain can be reduced to computations, then we must consider whether computations
can evoke intelligence.