How do I become a cyberneticist?

[Bio-Hazard]

Ok, I come from a crappy school.

I don't have much knowledge in lots of stuff.

 

Where do I start?

 

Highschool GPA 2.7

College GPA 4.0

 

I go to a community college. It's 90 minutes from chicago on I-90.

[YT2095]

do basic electronics at college, then the more advanced level, from there you`ll have to specialise, choose the Digital path, from there you`ll be introduced to allsorts of avenues, from simple computer architecture to Neural-Cybernetics and robotics

[Bio-Hazard]

I'm more interested in what things I should be studying.

 

I'm going to have to aim towards physiology, anatomy, biology, electronics, neurology, and many other things, but I'm not too sure how far or how much in each subject I'll need.

 

What's a good school to go to that is cheap and yet effective? I believe I can keep above a 3.2 GPA for the next few years.

 

The university of reading located in the united kingdoms has professor Kevin Warwick which I'm very interested in becoming a pupil of.

 

I don't know the exact steps I need to take in order to become great at cybernetics though.

 

I'm interested in replacing fingers and other moving body parts with cybernetic implants..

 

My real goal would be putting 10 gigs of secondary storage in my head. Like Johnny Mnemonic...

[D_Noonian]

Hello Bio-Hazard,

 

First, you must maintain at least a 3.0 GPA in college and pass ALL math (algebra, pre-calac, calc-I, calc-II, differential eq, probabilty & statistics, etc.) with a minimum of 'C' -- some colleges required no less than 'B'. You will need to also take courses in psychology (i.e. Pavlov on Behavorism), anataomy and neurophysiology such as Biofeedback certification: brian;EEG, heart;EKG, muscles; EMG, eyes; EOG, skin temp.; GSR, etc. (check-out these organizations: BCIA , BIOF, http://www.mindfitness.com, http://www.wilddivine.com, and http://www.behavmedfoundation.org for industry certs and tools). The field of Cybernetics was pioneered by Norbert Wiener -- his books on 'feedback systems' are difficult and dated, but a good reference none-the-less.

 

Today, the field has many pioneers split into two methodology camps -- software and hardware (the connectionists). New VHDL Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) chips has allowed the connectionist to surpass the softeware barrior of 100-1000 neurons -- producing 40,000 neurons on a single chip!!! (de Garis is approaching 100,000 neurons in real-time!!!)

 

So, if you are serious about the 'Johnny Mnemonic' brain booster, then check-out: Proffessor, Dr. Hugo de Garis' work on "Brain Building" using VHDL-FPGA's called the CAM Brain Machine (link: http://www.cs.usu.edu/~degaris/). You could study here in the USA, at Utah State University, Logan, Utah, directly under the professor, check-out the many 'on-line' study guides he provides --they are sure to jump start your brain!

 

In addition to Cam Brain architectures, you'll need to have familiarity with electronics hardware; firmware programming, transistor and op-amp feedback circuitry for mimicing the neuron, Boolean digital logic, and fundamental Robotics. As for software, you must know Basic, VB, and C/C++ at a minimum, plus an understanding of: "Evolutionary Computing", "Genetic Algorithms", and Chaos Theory (mimicing the patterns of life; neurons, tree-branching, phi spirals, etc.).

 

This can seem overwhelming at times, and it can be, but it is doable -- it has been my life for the past 25 yrs. Its never too late to get started. Let me know what you think of Prof. de Garis and the Cam Brain.

 

Hope this info can be of help, or at least motivating.

Hey, are you familiar with the biofeedback device by Wild Divine?

If so, please let me know. Thanks.

[ecoli]

for good college tuition it really depends on where you live. You best bet is to go to a State University in your state. I'm going to SUNY (State University of NY) at Stony Brook next year. Its a great research institution and I'll be working in a lab, even though I'll be a freshman. Best of all, tuition is just $5,000 per academic year. (I'm living at home, though). I also am getting a half-scholarship because of my high school grades & SATs. College should be relatively cheap for me, and I'll get the same education that I would I go to an Ivy league school. Plus, I know that medical schools at harvard and other great institution would take me because Stony Brook is a good school.

[Evangelante]

D_Noonian, that's about artificial brains? I think Bio-Hazard is referring to Brain-Computer Interface technology.

 

 

There's an interesting war among scientists about what a cyborg is.

 

Will you have a CNS altered body or a brain altered body.

 

CNS will be a type of cyborg technology, and so will brain-computer interface technology. If I'm correct.

 

Warwick seems to be using Central Nervous System technology by moving around and having electrical signals drawn out to devices so that doors open from remote control and so forth.

 

Simply put, CNS would make a good Doc-Ock from spiderman.

 

From what I have read, people are using artificial hippocampuses on labrats. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that controls new information being recieved and making it into a long term memory.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Brain-computer_interface

 

I question how much you may really need to know about this technology. I have yet much to learn myself. I figure that learning as much about the human brain is a must and electronic technology will be a very important thing also to the nanoscale.