From: Robert Bradbury (bradbury@genebee.msu.su)
Date: Sun Jan 23 2000 - 04:04:37 MST
On Sat, 22 Jan 2000, Dana Hedberg wrote:
>
> Mental development follows a timeline immediately upon conception I would
> think.
>
Yes, but the development that occurs from conception to birth is largely
"programmed". There are some weak environmental influences such as
maternal hormones, substances in the diet that can cross the placenta,
etc.
The net information content of a newborn's brain is quite low. I
believe the neural net continues to grow during the first year or
so of life. The "patterning" of the neural net is largely what
creates what we call a "human being" (in contrast to something I
would loosely call a zombie).
The question of "valuation" is related strongly to the information
content or the investment required to reproduce an equivalent.
In a newborn, the "calorie" investment is significantly higher
than the "information" investment.
Robert
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