Are we just neurons in the World Brain?

This is a disturbing thought which keeps cropping up, at least to me. Mainly because of what seem to be the striking similarities between the situation and function of a neuron in a neural network, whether that be an Artificial Neural Network or a human brain, and that of an individual in society. The only fundamental difference seems to be that the neuron, especially in an ANN, performs a simple deterministic function whereas the hyper-neuron, which is the individual in society, is complex and, arguably, non-deterministic. If we consider a complex ANN whose cells are made up of simpler ANNs and we add some random noise to the system, then we have, in principle, something eerily close to what we experience as individuals in society. For the purposes of this argument, issues of consciousness and teleology which although are connected, are not directly relevant.

Drawing some analogies, we can say the following:

1: A neuron, in a brain or in an ANN will produce an output which is the weighted sum of its inputs.

An individual will largely absorb the cultural influences, the contemporary propaganda, philosophy etc. and express opinions which, despite how it might seem to the thinker, appears to the observer to be, sometimes very predictable, weighted sums of the input. The extent of individual, truly original thought really seems to be the exception.

2: Throughout the development of more and more complex life-forms there has been a tendency for the control functions to become localised within each organism, culminating with the stage where almost all control functions are carried out within a dedicated organ such as the brain.

More recently, in evolutionary timescales, there has been a tendency for control functions of life on Earth as a whole to be concentrated in ( usurped by? ) a single species, ie. humans.

There are other analogies possible when the processes in the NN and in society are looked at more closely, such as the way ideas and political or philosophical movements “propagate” like waves through a population, and the ways in which a NN responds to a change in stimulus.

Looking at it another way, suppose we could put ourselves in the place of a neuron in an NN. What would we see? First we would be linked through some communication mechanism to a finite number of our neighbours. We would receive information from them, process it, and send information out. The information we would receive is neither the truth nor the whole truth – always it is partial and distorted, mainly by the processing performed the neighbours, less so by the processing performed by those farther afield. The information available to the NN as a whole would be distributed unevenly and with various degrees of inaccuracy throughout the neurons ( individuals ). If the neuron were conscious, its existence in the NN would be felt as the continuous attempt to reconcile time varying and contradictory inputs and come to some “conclusion” which would be passed on.

Because of the nature of the system, the conclusions also must be inconsistent. Not a happy neuron. Maybe the neuron would have some internal thoughts about what is the “right” conclusion and whether there was any “point” in passing on the results of its processing at all. Whereas in reality it may be that the “point”, if there is one, is as far removed from the capability of the neuron to comprehend as the mind of God is for human individuals.

Even more speculatively, if we look from afar at the world, and the structures which are formed by the human population, we see ( at least in the Northern hemisphere ) a strong division between East and West in terms of culture and philosophy. To simplify greatly, the West is predominantly analytical and reductionist while the East is more holistic. Maybe coincidence, but I cannot help being reminded of the way in which the left and right halves of the brain are viewed.

What are the implications of this? Does the world have thoughts? – or is the world brain at an insufficient state of development for that. Teleologically, I don’t think much can be deduced – all that can be said is descriptive. It is interesting, however, to speculate that, maybe, the state of evolution of the Earth as a whole is similar now to that of a primitive single cell organism.

In addition, at least up until the very recent explosive increase in communications round the world, direct communication between individuals was only possible between neighbours. Finding out about anything across the world, or even across town, relied on hearsay and information passed through many people. This is now changing and leading to a yet more complex situation – possibly with more potential for integration.