ViewpointS: A Collective Brain

Abstract

Understanding and forecasting brain functions is the major challenge of our times. The focus of this endeavor is understanding and forecasting learning events, such as the dynamic adaptation of beams connecting neuronal cards in Edelman's Theory of Neuronal Group Selection (TNGS). We have conceived, designed and evaluated a new paradigm for constructing and using collective knowledge by Web interactions that we called ViewpointS. By exploiting the similarity with the TNGS we conjecture that it may be metaphorically considered a Collective Brain, especially effective in the case of trans-disciplinary representations. Far from being without doubts, in the paper we present the reasons (and the limits) of our proposal that aims to become a useful integrating tool for future quantitative explorations of individual brain functions as well as of collective wisdom at different degrees of granularity. We are therefore challenging each of the current approaches: the logical one in the semantic Web, the statistical one in mining and deep learning, the social one in recommender systems based on authority and trust; not in each of their own preferred field of operation, rather in their integration weaknesses far from the holistic and dynamic behavior of the human brain.

Information, knowledge, and human learning for chemistry: the visionary contribution of Professor Alain Krief

“…In retrospect, this failure led us to revise our plans: Prof. Krief and the chemists were encouraged to investigate more deeply the tools, methods, and initiatives dedicated to human learning and dissemination of scientific knowledge, particularly in chemistry, while the informaticians started another project (ViewpointS) which continues (see, e.g., Refs. [2][3][4][5][6] ). This latter project is the best testimony of the influence of the experience we gathered previously working with Prof. Krief in EnCOrE.…”