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PHYSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
emotions. Their reasoning ability is intact, but they cannot express any
feelings. Neurologist Dr. Antonio Damasio of the University of Iowa
College of Medicine, who has studied people with these types of brain
injuries, concludes that they seem "to know, but not to feel."
Dr. Damasio finds that such individuals are often paralyzed in
making the smallest decisions. Without emotions to guide them, they
endlessly debate over this option or that option, leading to crippling indecision. One patient of Dr. Damasio spent half an hour trying to decide the date of his next appointment.
Scientists believe that emotions are processed in the "limbic system" of the brain, which lies deep in the center of our brain. When
people suffer from a loss of communication between the neocortex
(which governs rational thinking) and the limbic system, their reasoning powers are intact but they have no emotions to guide them in making decisions. Sometimes we have a "hunch" or a "gut reaction" that
propels our decision making. People with injuries that effect the communication between the rational and emotional parts of the brain do
not have this ability.
For example, when we go shopping we unconsciously make thousands of value judgments about almost everything we see, such as
"This is too expensive, too cheap, too colorful, too silly, or just right."
For people with this type of brain injury, shopping can be a nightmare
because everything seems to have the same value.
As robots become more intelligent and are able to make choices of
their own, they could likewise become paralyzed with indecision.
(This is reminiscent of the parable of the donkey sitting between two
bales of hay that eventually dies of starvation because it cannot decide
which to eat.) To aid them, robots of the future may need to have emotions hardwired into their brains. Commenting on the lack of emotions
in robots, Dr. Rosalind Picard of the MIT Media Lab says, "They can't
feel what's most important. That's one of their biggest failings. Computers just don't get it."
As Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote, "If everything on
Earth were rational, nothing would happen."
In other words, robots of the future may need emotions to set goals
PHYSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
emotions. Their reasoning ability is intact, but they cannot express any
feelings. Neurologist Dr. Antonio Damasio of the University of Iowa
College of Medicine, who has studied people with these types of brain
injuries, concludes that they seem "to know, but not to feel."
Dr. Damasio finds that such individuals are often paralyzed in
making the smallest decisions. Without emotions to guide them, they
endlessly debate over this option or that option, leading to crippling indecision. One patient of Dr. Damasio spent half an hour trying to decide the date of his next appointment.
Scientists believe that emotions are processed in the "limbic system" of the brain, which lies deep in the center of our brain. When
people suffer from a loss of communication between the neocortex
(which governs rational thinking) and the limbic system, their reasoning powers are intact but they have no emotions to guide them in making decisions. Sometimes we have a "hunch" or a "gut reaction" that
propels our decision making. People with injuries that effect the communication between the rational and emotional parts of the brain do
not have this ability.
For example, when we go shopping we unconsciously make thousands of value judgments about almost everything we see, such as
"This is too expensive, too cheap, too colorful, too silly, or just right."
For people with this type of brain injury, shopping can be a nightmare
because everything seems to have the same value.
As robots become more intelligent and are able to make choices of
their own, they could likewise become paralyzed with indecision.
(This is reminiscent of the parable of the donkey sitting between two
bales of hay that eventually dies of starvation because it cannot decide
which to eat.) To aid them, robots of the future may need to have emotions hardwired into their brains. Commenting on the lack of emotions
in robots, Dr. Rosalind Picard of the MIT Media Lab says, "They can't
feel what's most important. That's one of their biggest failings. Computers just don't get it."
As Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote, "If everything on
Earth were rational, nothing would happen."
In other words, robots of the future may need emotions to set goals