Series title: Science fiction or Science ? Serial No. 3
Article Title: Automatic knowledge
transfer from one person to another
Source references : The story of Nala
& Damayanthi in Mahabharata
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
In this story, Nala
auto- transfers equestrian knowledge to king Rituparna & Rituparna, in turn, transfers knowledge of playing dice to Nala.
In modern technical terms this would be called “memory
implanting”. This is an active area of research in neuroscience currently,
though it is said to be at a very early stage.
The concept has
been used to great effect in some modern
science fiction movies.
Relevant
extracts regarding the event as given in source::
Nala, the son of Virasena was the king of the Nishadas.
He was strong, and handsome, and well-versed in the knowledge of horses and
possessed of every desirable accomplishment………Under force of circumstances, Nala loses all his wealth in a
game of dice where his opponent used unfair means…….Nala wanders about, is separated from his wife, his appearance
changed and name chaged to Vahuka, comes
to king Rituparna of Ayodhya]
He approached the king, saying "My name is Vahuka.
There is no one in this world equal to me in managing steeds……”
Rituparna replied, 'O Vahuka, stay with me! May good
happen to thee. Thou wilt perform all
this. I have always particularly desired to be driven fast. Do thou concert
such measures that my steeds may become fleet. I appoint thee the superintendent
of my stables………”
[On one occasion …] king Rituparna, soothing Vahuka with
gentle words, said, 'O Vahuka, thou art well-skilled in training and guiding
horses. If it pleases thee, I intend to go to Damayanti's Swayamvara [ in
Vidharba] in course of a single day.”….
Rituparna,
with joined hands "O monarch, I bow to thy behest, and I will go to the
city of the Vidarbhas in a single day!" Then, at the command of the royal
son of Bhangasura, Vahuka went to the stables and began to examine the horses.
And repeatedly urged by Rituparna to make haste, Vahuka after much scrutiny and
careful deliberation, selected some steeds that were lean-fleshed, yet strong
and capable of a long journey and endued with energy and strength of high breed
and docility, free from inauspicious marks, with wide nostrils and swelling
cheeks, free from faults as regards the ten hairy curls, born in the country of
Sindhu, and fleet as the winds. And seeing those horses, the king said somewhat
angrily "What is this, that thou wishest to do? Thou shouldst not jest
with us. How can these horses of mine, weak in strength and breath, carry us?
And how shall we be able to go this long way by help of these?"
Vahuka replied, 'Each of these horses bears one curl on
his forehead, two on his temples, four on his sides, four on his chest, and one
on his back. Without doubt, these steeds will be able to go to the country of
the Vidarbhas. If thou thinkest of choosing others, point them out and I shall
yoke them for thee." Rituparna rejoined "O Vahuka, thou art versed in
the science of horses and art also skillful in guiding them. Do thou speedily
yoke those that thou thinkest to be able."
Thereupon the skillful Nala yoked upon the car four excellent steeds of
good breed that were, besides, docile and fleet…….
[Nala handles the chariot and horses superbly making
great speed… but they encounter unexpected delays on the way…in one instance
the king exhibits extremely unusual skill with numbers….]
Wherein Vahuka was
struck with amazement upon finding the fruits, after calculation, to be what
the king had said, he addressed the king, saying "O monarch, this thy
power is wonderful. I desire to know the art by which thou hast ascertained all
this." At this king, intent upon proceeding speedily, said unto Vahuka.
'Know that I am proficient at dice
besides being versed in numbers." And Vahuka said unto him "Impart
unto me this knowledge and take from me my knowledge of horses………. And
king Rituparna, having regard to the importance of the act that depended upon
Vahuka's good-will, and tempted also by the horse-lore that his charioteer
possessed, said, 'So be it.' As solicited by thee, receive this science of dice from me, and, O Vahuka, let my equine
science remain with thee in trust.' And saying this, Rituparna imparted unto
Nala the science he desired………….
…… Nala replied, "……. This thy horse-lore
is in my keeping. If thou wishest, O king, I will make it over to thee."
Saying this, Naishadha gave unto Rituparna that science and the latter took it
with the ordained rites.
Rituparna, having
obtained the mysteries of equestrian science and having given unto the ruler of
the Naishadhas the mysteries of dice, went to his own city,
Current
status of memory transfer technology
Advances in neurosciences have given us the clearest
picture yet of how memories are formed , stores
and then recalled…..it has come together just in the past few years due
to two technical developments--- modern brain scanning and computers…..
What is a memory?
Neuroscientists
usually define a singular memory as an engram—a physical change in brain tissue
associated with a particular recollection. Recently, brain scans revealed that
an engram isn't isolated to one region of the brain and instead manifests as a
colorful splattering across the neural tiss
A memory looks more like a web in the brain
than a single spot,” says neuroscientist and National Geographic Explorer Steve Ramirez of Boston University. That's because when a memory
is created, it includes all the visual, auditory, and tactile inputs that make
an experience memorable, and brain cells are encoded from all of those regions.
Implanting memories
·
Researchers at MIT in
2013, had a breakthrough: They were able
to target the cells that make up one engram in a mouse’s brain and then implant
a false memory. In their work, mice
reacted in fear to a particular stimulus even when they had not been
conditioned in advance.
·
Scientist s at Wake forest University
and Univ. of Southern California… in 2011 achieved….ability to create an
artificial hippocampus and then insert
memories into the brain… they were able to record a memory made by mice (
learning a new task)and store it digitally in a computer… they then injected
the mice with a special chemical , making them forget the task..Then they
played back the memory into the same
mouse’s brain.. the memory of the task returned…
The researchers stress that
their work in mice is foundational, but they
see treatment potential for humans down the road.
Currently the sense is that direct transfer of new skills to persons
thru memory implants seems technically possible
but it is atleast a few decades into
the future
Office of the chief of Naval operations, USA which
sponsored the work saya “…Using implantables to enhance competency is down the road. It is only a matter of
time”
The technology is at primitive stage… many hurdles have
to be crossed… But principle is established… it may take decades to refine and
to work all the way upto humans….
Some sites
Memory
transfer in modern science fiction
Remember
that scene from the cult movie The Matrix (1999)?
….. the evil sentinels who guard the Matrix.. have
finally cornered Neo… the only one who can lead a defeated humanity to victory
against the Machines. It looks like humanity’s last hope is about to be
terminated. But previously Neo had had an electrode jacked into the back of his
head that could instantly download new skills into his brain
'Jujitsu?
I'm going to learn Jujitsu?' asks Neo, lying down, as the operator
downloads modules of martial arts from digital tapes into the organic neural
matter of Neo's brain. From kung-fu to flying a B-21 helicopter - all learning
gets downloaded through a neuro-digital connection into the brain from the
computer….
In seconds he becomes a karate master able to take down
the Sentinels….
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
·
Scientist
s at Wake forest University and Univ. of Southern California… in 2011
achieved….ability to create an artificial hippocampus and then insert memories into the brain… they
were able to record a memory made by mice ( learning a new task)and store it
digitally in a computer… they then injected the mice with a special chemical ,
making them forget the task..Then they played back the memory into the same mouse’s brain.. the
memory of the task returned…
No comments:
Post a Comment