Da Blob
17th-October-2009, 11:30 PM
On another thread I requested a list of the grreat unsolved mysteries facing Humanity and Morricone was kind enough to provide the link below..
Personally I do not see very many of the mysteries listed as qualifying as being great. In that, very few seem to offer 'great' tangible benefits should those mysteries ever be solved. However, I think it would be interesting to speculate about such tangible benefits and perhaps even rank mysteries by their potential benefit...
So which of these mysteries is the 'most important' based upon the benefits available to humanity upon their explanation? Because of my own POV I am going to select one of the issues in neuroscience...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unsolved_problems
A list of unsolved problems may refer to several conjectures or open problems in various fields:
Unsolved problems in artificial intelligence
Unsolved problems in chemistry
Unsolved problems in computer science
Unsolved problems in economics
Unsolved problems in linguistics
Unsolved problems in mathematics
Unsolved problems in neuroscience
Unsolved problems in philosophy
Unsolved problems in physics
Unsolved problems in statistics
Some of the yet unsolved problems of neuroscience include:
Consciousness: What is the neuronal basis of subjective experience, cognition, wakefulness, alertness, arousal and attention? How is the "hard problem of consciousness" solved? What is its function?[1]
Perception: How does the brain transfer sensory information into coherent, private percepts? What are the rules by which perception is organized? What are the features/objects that constitute our perceptual experience of internal and external events? How are the senses integrated? Is face perception special (e.g. innate)? What is the relationship between subjective experience and the physical world?
Learning and Memory: Where do our memories get stored and how are they retrieved again? How can learning be improved? What is the difference between explicit and implicit memories?
Neuroplasticity: How plastic is the mature brain?
Development and evolution: How and why did the brain evolve (the way it did)? What are the molecular determinants of individual brain development?
Sleep: Why do we dream? What are the underlying brain mechanisms? What is its relation to anesthesia?
Cognition and Decisions: How and where does the brain evaluate reward value and effort (cost) to modulate behavior? How does previous experience alter perception and behavior? What are the genetic and environmental contributions to brain function?
Language: How is it implemented neurally? What is the basis of semantic meaning?
Diseases: What are the neural bases (causes) of mental diseases like psychotic disorders (e.g. mania, schizophrenia), Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease or addiction? Is it possible to recover loss of sensory or motor function?
Personally I do not see very many of the mysteries listed as qualifying as being great. In that, very few seem to offer 'great' tangible benefits should those mysteries ever be solved. However, I think it would be interesting to speculate about such tangible benefits and perhaps even rank mysteries by their potential benefit...
So which of these mysteries is the 'most important' based upon the benefits available to humanity upon their explanation? Because of my own POV I am going to select one of the issues in neuroscience...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unsolved_problems
A list of unsolved problems may refer to several conjectures or open problems in various fields:
Unsolved problems in artificial intelligence
Unsolved problems in chemistry
Unsolved problems in computer science
Unsolved problems in economics
Unsolved problems in linguistics
Unsolved problems in mathematics
Unsolved problems in neuroscience
Unsolved problems in philosophy
Unsolved problems in physics
Unsolved problems in statistics
Some of the yet unsolved problems of neuroscience include:
Consciousness: What is the neuronal basis of subjective experience, cognition, wakefulness, alertness, arousal and attention? How is the "hard problem of consciousness" solved? What is its function?[1]
Perception: How does the brain transfer sensory information into coherent, private percepts? What are the rules by which perception is organized? What are the features/objects that constitute our perceptual experience of internal and external events? How are the senses integrated? Is face perception special (e.g. innate)? What is the relationship between subjective experience and the physical world?
Learning and Memory: Where do our memories get stored and how are they retrieved again? How can learning be improved? What is the difference between explicit and implicit memories?
Neuroplasticity: How plastic is the mature brain?
Development and evolution: How and why did the brain evolve (the way it did)? What are the molecular determinants of individual brain development?
Sleep: Why do we dream? What are the underlying brain mechanisms? What is its relation to anesthesia?
Cognition and Decisions: How and where does the brain evaluate reward value and effort (cost) to modulate behavior? How does previous experience alter perception and behavior? What are the genetic and environmental contributions to brain function?
Language: How is it implemented neurally? What is the basis of semantic meaning?
Diseases: What are the neural bases (causes) of mental diseases like psychotic disorders (e.g. mania, schizophrenia), Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease or addiction? Is it possible to recover loss of sensory or motor function?