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"In 1970 I found little difficulty staying 30 years ahead of the man in the street, and now I find it difficult to stay 18 months ahead of the man on the street."
- Vernor Vinge
 |
| Electro-Education | ||
| The latest thing in electrically stimulated learning. |
| "When you learn something... how does your brain do it?... The nerve-cells of your brain, the neurons, already contain the ideas of Earth and round," he explained. "Constant repetition of "Earth is round" establishes a connection between the two neuron-groups, by gradually lowering the resistance at the synapses of neuron-contacts. Thus, when in future you think of Earth, the thought-impulse flashes along that low-resistance path to the specific neurons containing round."
Being an electrician, I could dimly understand that. "Long study and repetition establishes the neural paths necessary for remembering. But suppose by applying a tiny electronic impulse from outside, you could artificially establish a low-resistance path between these two neuron-groups?" I got that, too. "Then I'd know that 'Earth is round' without having to bother learning it!" "That's the idea!" Carter said... "we invented a scanner that can change the labyrinthine neural connections of the brain by tiny electronic impulses, just as you can rewire a generator's coils. With it, we can set up any desired neural paths in an instant by applying just the right electronic impulses at the right points in the network." "Any ordinary new set of facts requires thousands of new neural paths in the brain... The scanner can put these new neural connections in your brain in a flash, by projecting a pre-determined pattern of electronic impulses." |
| Technovelgy from The Knowledge Machine,
by Edmond Hamilton. Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1948 Additional resources -
|
Here's a picture of the entire set-up:
Compare to the Electromechanical Educator from The Fourth "R" by George O. Smith.
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'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
'...the combined Wind-Suncatcher, like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.'
'The low-slung monorail car, straddling its single track, bored through the shadows on a slowly rising course.'
'It was a smooth ovoid floating a few inches from the floor...'
'... he thrust in his charging arm to replenish his store of energy.'
'...the terrible Jovian gravity that made each movement an effort.'
