Re: Cochlear mechanics

[Harry Erwin <herwin@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Re: Cochlear mechanics

> Andrew,
>
> Do you really think that knowledge grows from the bottom
> upwards?  If you
> really do, we should all stop wasting our time and become nuclear
> physicists.
>
> Al
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Andrew Bell <bellring@smartchat.net.au>
>
>
> > I agree that the subject is important, for if we don't
> understand how the
> > ear works at a fundamental level, how can we formulate adequate
> models of
> > higher level percepts?

I think that it can be argued that complex systems (in the sense of Rosen, 1985) exist and show emergent higher-level behavior that cannot be predicted by simply modeling lower level processes. However, those lower level processes remain real, and our understanding of the higher-level behavior has to be consistent with them. If we lack valid models of those lower level processes, we will have difficulty formulating higher level models correctly. Or as I kept relearning during my dissertation research:

"It's not what you don't know that will hurt you. It's what you think you know that just ain't so."

-- Satchel Paige

Cheers 8),

--
---
Harry Erwin, PhD, Computational Neuroscientist (modeling bat behavior), Senior SW Analyst and Security Engineer, and Adjunct Professor of Computer Science, GMU. CV available at: <http://mason.gmu.edu/~herwin/CV.htm>