A lesson in humility: Passion and learning

This week I learned a lesson in humility.

At some point along the way, I made the mistake of equating knowledge of artificial neural networks with knowledge of the brain. At the beginning of the week, I had a critical attitude about our course text with regard to this subject, but online discussions with my professor and other students have given me a much-needed reality check. “All neural networks are created equal” is an unreasonable assumption. Artificial neural networks may provide a useful model for developing hypotheses about how the brain works, but the difference between the brain and artificial intelligence is significant, especially with regard to instructional design.

We don’t know a lot about how brains (biological neural networks) function. We can poke and prod at animal brains and make observations. We can create software simulations and try to build useful analogies. In a highly abstract sense, we can duplicate the structure of a biological neural network, but artificial neural networks differ from their biological counterparts in several important ways:

1. Plasticity (flexibility to learn new concepts) can be exchanged for computational speed in biological networks. (Paplinski)
2. Weighting of information depends on a rather simple indexing scheme in artificial networks, but the same function is complex and not well understood in biological networks and involves chemical “messages” and creation of new synapses. (Paplinski)
3. Huge disparity in the number of neurons and the interconnections between them. (Paplinski)

In my opinion, the most significant difference between artificial learning and biological learning is the life-motivation of living things. Machines have programmed goals, but they do not have passions.

I have often made the claim that AI illustrates the fact that intelligence is not about the “equipment” we were given. If each of us have one head, two eyes, two ears, arms, legs, hands and feet, then it is reasonable to assume none of us have a significant advantage over others to accomplish whatever we set our minds to accomplish. The difference for those who appear to have an advantage is their passion and their self-confidence.

Diane Demee-Benoit, in her blog about “Expeditionary Learning,” talks about how the brain learns better when heart and hands are engaged (Demee-Benoit, 2007).

In her essay What motivates you? “Life-Long Scholar” (listed as the author’s name) discusses how her enjoyment of the process of learning was her motivation that got her through graduate school. I understand her perspective. As an undergraduate, that was my perspective too. I was not nearly so focused on my goals as I was on how my current experiences were expanding who I was (and am).

Now my perspective is different. I have raised a family. The job is not complete, but it’s mostly done. Life has limited my options somewhat. I have a vision impairment that allows me to work at a desk, but challenges my ability to drive a car to work each day. Now I see education as a way to re-tool my capabilities toward a specific goal, but that takes nothing away from my love for learning. It just adds another reason to apply myself and do the best I can do.

References

Demee-Benoit, D. (2007, June 25). A passion for knowledge: An introduction to expeditionary learning [blog]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/introduction-expeditionary-learning

Paplinski, A.P. Artificial neural networks and their biological motivation. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.24.815&rep=rep1&type=pdf .

Scholar, L. L. (2008, October 21). What motivates you? [blog]. Retrieved from http://a-life-long-scholar.blogspot.com/2008/10/what-motivates-you.html