>On the topic of creative machines I came up with the idea, could
>creativity be caused by foul ups in the functioning of our brain much
>like hallucinogenics do but on a far tinier level? Should we simulate the
>effects of acid on AIs to generate creativity? Perhaps some of us have
>more fucked-up brains than others resulting in our greater creativity
>while other far better functioning brains become engineers. I don't mind
>having a fucked-up brain!
I think there is something to this idea. The more divergent lines of
thought you can bring to bear on a problem, the more likely it
is that you will come up with something original. The "foul up" you
describe could be greater overlap or intersection between different areas
of the brain that are normally confined to carrying out very specific
tasks ( these overlaps can often generate a lot of noise and nonsense as
well as creativity). For example, enhanced information transfer along the
corpus callosum which connects the two lobes of the brain, is said to
stimulate creativity.
Tony Csoka