In my opinion, this increased degree of complexity from the model we were talking about last week makes it easier for me to accept the idea that brain is behavior. The model with a trillion neuronal connections, meaning a trillion input/output mechanisms, can account for many more variations in the behaviors of different people. Also the idea that specific neuronal connections can be different in different people helps to explain the degree of variation in behavior between people.

One aspect of the nervous system that I feel needs to be clarified for this model to be accepted is the idea that different neuronal connections can be specific to different behaviors. Perhaps neuronal connections within certain brain areas control different aspects of behavior than connections within other brain areas. Neuronal connections in the hypothalamus control for the release of hormones throughout the body, while neuronal connections in the cerebellum control for primitive movements and thought processes. There must be some underlying organization of the neurons that causes them to have different functions, or else the nervous system is nothing more than an amorphous blob. I think it is this specificity of neuronal function that is the key to this model.

Is certainly an important part, at least. You're right, of course. The thing is far from an amorphous blob. And must be, for reasons we'll come to shortly. PG