This Bear Is Up a Tree

This Bear Is Up a Tree
photo by Scott Granneman

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Taxonomists -- a vanishing species?

Carol Kaesuk Yoon is a science writer for the NY Times. On August 10, she wrote about the ability of humans to name and organize living organisms, apparently using an inherent skill shared by all cultures. According to Yoon, scientists are closing in on the part of the brain that is responsible for this activity. Can you guess where that might be? Why would this ability be a necessary or even desirable trait? As Yoon puts it, the ability to name a carrot or a cat makes it possible for one to know whether to grate or pet it. How important is this to you and how can you use it to further your academic success? She also posits that computers are taking over the job of taxonomists. What are the implications of this statement?
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3 comments:

  1. neuropieThu Sep 03, 03:17:00 AM 2009

    I wonder if the occipital/temporal regions of the brain are associated with this sort of recognition...As all agnosias(loss of ability to recognize persons,objects,shapes,etc.) are associated with damage to these areas.
    This is definitely a necessary trait in terms of recognizing food and other things necessary for survival. As well as being able to recognize secure objects and beings from dangerous ones.
    As for the computer taxonomists...even if one day this was strictly done by computers..It seems as though a computerized system for this type of recognition would prove to have somewhat consistent flaws. Human beings are much more accurate with this type of recognition--which is why there is such thing as text capture tests that require you to type in a distorted image of a word in order to login to a certain database. This ensures that the the person signing in is in fact a human being.

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  2. djhMon Sep 14, 03:23:00 PM 2009

    The Dallas Morning News ran a story 9/13 about the construction of an artificial brain that speaks to the issues you have raised. Previously, computers have been constructed to think like, well, computers. That is to say, when the computer is trying to make a decision, it is running numberous alogrithms that check all stored data. The newest experiment is based on an attempt to construct a computer that is wired in the same way the human brain is biologically wired.

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  3. Jordan KruegerThu Nov 12, 03:29:00 PM 2009

    If I could guess which part of the brain this process would take place in I would assume the occipital. We first must recognize the object with our sight and then we analyze. I think that this ability is very important. Like Yoon puts it, we must be able to identify whether or not to grate it or pet it. We are also able to recognize danger when we identify certain objects so this is important. This is all about recognition and in academics we need to be able to recognize material as well. Whether its identifying and recognizing key information in text or on a test. Recognition is vital in academics.

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