Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Prologue xiii
Introduction 1
The Perspective of Neurobiological Information 4
The Perspective of Algorithmic Information 5
A Shared Perspective 7
The Ten Seminars 11
On Common Ground 24
The Present and the Past 26
The First Discussion: On Communication 26
The Historical Seminar: The Deeply Engrained Worship of Tidy-Looking Dichotomies 36
1 Algorithmic Growth 81
1.1 Information? What Information? 83
The Second Discussion: On Complexity 83
Seminar 2: From Algorithmic Growth to Endpoint Information 91
1.2 Noise and Relevant Information 112
The Third Discussion: On Apple Trees and the Immune System 112
Seminar 3: From Randomness to Precision 120
1.3 Autonomous Agents and Local Rules 139
The Fourth Discussion: On Filopodia and Soccer Games 139
Seminar 4: From Local Rules to Robustness 146
2 Of Players and Rules 161
2.1 The Benzer Paradox 163
The Fifth Discussion: On the Genetic Encoding of Behavior 163
Seminar 5: From Molecular Mechanisms to Evolutionary Programming 170
2.2 The Molecules That Could 186
The Sixth Discussion: On Guidance Cues and Target Recognition 186
Seminar 6: From Chemoaffinity to the Virtues of Permissiveness 192
2.3 The Levels Problem 211
The Seventh Discussion: On Context 211
Seminar 7: From Genes to Cells to Circuits 217
3 Brain Development and Artificial Intelligence 237
3.1 You Are Your History 239
The Eighth Discussion: On Development and the Long Reach of the Past 239
Seminar 8: From Development to Function 245
3.2 Self-Assembly versus "Build First, Train Later" 262
The Ninth Discussion: On the Growth of Artificial Neural Networks 262
Seminar 9: From Algorithmic Growth to Artificial Intelligence 267
3.3 Final Frontiers: Beloved Beliefs and the AI-Brain Interface 287
The Tenth Discussion: On Connecting the Brain and AI 287
Seminar 10: From Cognitive Bias to Whole Brain Emulation 294
Epilogue 312
Glossary 317
References 329
Index 351