[HS]

Genuinely three-dimensional cognitive substrates could be useful for representing time-dependent data in structures which could then be understood at once, in parallel. I heard about cases where the order of neuronal firing was arbitrary in terms of its effects on the brain. This led me to think that concepts and perceptions could be encoded as ''temporally symmetrical'' structures. (Like ambigrams readable in any direction, but with time.) This kind of storage wouldn’t be at risk of being read backwards, or in any inconvenient order, thereby increasing reliability and the potential for parallel computation. 

That is tricky to imagine, but in 2D space, pixels could flash on a screen in any order, and human observers would still recognize the same image regardless of the order in which the pixels flashed. If a data storage medium were expanded by one dimension, then maybe the data writable on it could likewise gain a dimension. So I'm thinking 3D structures might be capable of instantly representing segments of time, as concepts for example, and these could then be read/understood in parallel, instead of linearly.

[infurl]

Have you been following all the work that Numenta has been doing over the past decade? They cover all this with things like Hierarchical Temporal Memory (HTM). They post their weekly research meetings live on YouTube. Really fascinating stuff.

Very interesting ideas about being able to receive the elements of messages in arbitrary order. Maybe you could comment on this:

https://www.sciencealert.com/is-there-a-message-from-the-universe-s-creator-in-the-cosmic-microwave-background

[HS]

I wasn’t aware they had a YouTube channel. That might prove to be a useful resource, thanks.

What he recovered appears to be utterly meaningless.

That’s what I would expect. Best case scenario really, if there was a creator, they have been kind enough to give us an open-ended universe.

- that the CMB would make the perfect billboard on which to leave a message that would be visible to all technological civilizations in the Universe.

Whoa… Yup, that’s a neat idea alright. Even if it didn't pan out in the end.

You know, this is cool. Scientists being true scientists, ready to honestly investigate a question for its own sake regardless of whether it seems improbable by current standards. That kind of mindset reminds me of my little brother effortlessly disassembling appliances by pulling on buttons instead of pressing on them. Once you think you know stuff and the ways of the world solidify in your mind, then its slow going with a hammer and chisel to reach somewhere new.

That said... While they might have pure scientific spirits, which I admire, I just don't currently have the inclination to search for 3D messages in cosmic background radiation. 

[MikeB]

The mind has genuine areas where it stores things... some parts of the mind are for some things and not for others.... on the homunculous chart all areas are also related to body parts, so you can power-pose (or posture differently) while remembering something or thinking of something. Standard personality traits can also favour the selection/analyse of some things over others....

A list of knowledge should be seperated into various types at least... and they have a very fast lookup if they're all in one spot.