Does the brain have an random generator?

[MM]

Has the brain developed a random generator ?

[the tree]

Nope, randomness just crops up in minor errors and stuff.

[ecoli]

We talking about the human brain?

[MM]

Nope, randomness just crops up in minor errors and stuff.

 

Ok, can you provide some reference that discusses this that don't involve freewill.

[MM]

We talking about the human brain?

 

Being the most advanced brain, yes.

[Mike Kovich]

I don't quite get the purpose of this thread, what is it exactly we are talking about?

[MM]

I don't quite get the purpose of this thread, what is it exactly we are talking about?

 

My purpose is to find out if the human brain depends upon random activities and if so to what extent.

[Dak]

do you mean like the way that calculators and computers generally have a 'produce random number' function?

[MM]

do you mean like the way that calculators and computers generally have a 'produce random number' function?

 

I doubt it would look the same. I just would like to know if the brain uses randomly generated impulses and how those were generated.

[YT2095]

my beleif is that we do not, any "randomness" that we`re likely to produce will have a bias (known or unknown), even a computer or calc can only produce a Pseudo Random number sequence with a little better chance of non replication if we use the variable held in the Time register as a seed value.

if you were to spout off 10,000 numbers and record them in an afternoon you`de find paterns emerge, now these will change almost daily, but the essential patterns will still be there. maybe it`s because were creatures of habit or some other reason, but it Does happen

[MM]

my beleif is that we do not' date=' any "randomness" that we`re likely to produce will have a bias (known or unknown), even a computer or calc can only produce a Pseudo Random number sequence with a little better chance of non replication if we use the variable held in the Time register as a seed value.

if you were to spout off 10,000 numbers and record them in an afternoon you`de find paterns emerge, now these will change almost daily, but the essential patterns will still be there. maybe it`s because were creatures of habit or some other reason, but it Does happen [/quote']

 

Ok, I meant a random status or sequence that is suppose to mimic true randomness. My wonder is if you need a degree of randomness for the brain to work to be able to shape learning behavior and various control systems. Of course random input can come from the surroundings but I wonder if the brain can produce "randomish" sequences by itself.

 

/I belive there are no true random events. To explain my thought I define true random as to be truly time independent and the time dimension not to be continuous as I se a continuous explanation to be a approximation and rather abstract. To find a truly random change one would then have to go back a step in time./

[YT2095]

I don`t believe we DO have a random "status" and to say "sequence" would defeat the object as it implies pre-planned.

 

we have many things that are Unknown and SEEMINGLY random, but we`de not be able to function properly if "Random" was an inherant function.

 

quite the opposite, our brains try to make sense out of that which is apparently random as a predispostion, we function the other way around

[Dak]

so what happens when someone is asked to pick a random number?

 

I agree that thered probably be patterns, but there must be some degree of randomness/pseudo-randomness. where does that come from?