Artificial Intelligence From the Bible

Falsifiable Predictions

Why Make Predictions?

The following is a list of falsifiable predictions about the brain which were derived from my interpretation of the seven churches and other biblical symbolic teachings. I will add to the list as I go along. If you know of any lab experiment that either falsifies or corroborates any of these predictions, please contact me.

I provide these predictions for a reason. I am making extraordinary claims in these pages. The predictions listed below concern aspects of brain function that are unknown to modern neurobiology, as far as I know. Thus I cannot be accused by my detractors (I have many, as one might suspect) of force-fitting known scientific discoveries into random Biblical verses after the fact.

I am acutely aware of the negative impact of recently published works on so-called "biblical codes". As a result, many people now suffer from what I call biblical coditis. I regularly receive highly critical correspondence comparing my work with the biblical code genre. The truth is that the science of symbol interpretation has been around long before the biblical code hoaxers appeared on the scene. This is how the late great archaeologist Linda Schele was able to decipher the meaning of Mayan "myths" by showing that they were, in reality, precise metaphors for various aspects of Mayan cosmology.

If the predictions are falsified in the lab, my work then amounts to nothing and I get to walk in shame, tarred and feathered and all that. But if they are confirmed, then a lot of people get to eat a mountain of crow. Best of all, I get to watch and say with a smirk on face: "I told you so, goddamnit!" I am only human, after all. Having said that, note that these predictions are based on my current understanding of the Biblical symbology. I may modify them in the future to reflect my growing familiarity with the metaphors. 

Temporal Interval Between Pre-Synaptic Spikes

The theory predicts that a pyramidal neuron in the sensory cortex fires when it receives a spike from a specific synapse which I call the successor synapse. The successor spike must be preceded by a predecessor spike (within ten milliseconds) arriving on a different synapse on the same neuron, otherwise the neuron will not fire. This prediction should probably be tested only in vivo. This is explained further in the preamble.

Left Brain Is Subservient to Right Brain

Subservient means that the left brain does everything to please the right brain. According to my interpretation of the church of Thyatira, the left brain's amygdala receives projections from the right brain via the corpus callosum which serves to reinforce or suppress the left brain's behavior. A careful psychological experiment can probably be performed on a split-brain patient (assuming there are any around) to falsify this prediction. This is explained further in the preamble.

10 to 1 Signal Correlation Ratio

This is the ratio used in neurons in the association cortex to reinforce input synapses. What it means is that, assuming a synapse is weakened by amount A when it receives a presynaptic spike, it is strengthened by an amount exactly 10 times the value of A if the target neuron fires a short time after the presynaptic spike. More can be found in the interpretation of the message to Smyrna.

Two Types of Corrective Feedback Signals From the Basal Ganglia

According to my interpretation of the message to Pergamum, the basal ganglia transmits two types of corrective signals back to the original source of the motor commands in the motor cortex. This is explained in detail in the Pergamum page.

Short-Term Memory Duration

How long does a short-term memory trace last? Does the Bible have anything to say on the matter? I think so. In fact, according to my interpretation, the Bible is very precise about it. In the book of Revelation we read the following:

11:3
And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.

This verse has a specific symbolic meaning which I will explain in a future page. What is relevant for this prediction is the meaning of the 1260 days? According to my hypothesis regarding the biblical symbology used in the book of Revelation, the word 'day' is a metaphor for a neural cycle, i.e., the time between two spikes. Most neurobiology texts maintain that, on average, the action potential of a neuron lasts about 10 milliseconds, which may vary over time or across individuals. 1260 cycles at about 10 ms per cycle is 12.6 seconds. Thus, according to this simple calculation based on the interpretation and the biological data, 12.6 seconds is the approximate duration of a short-term memory trace. The only variable in the equation is the cycle time.

Note that the biblical text says absolutely nothing about the actual duration in terms of seconds but only in terms of neural cycles. The actual duration will vary depending on cycle wavelength. Indeed, spike trains of various frequencies have been detected in the hippocampus, so it is safe to assume that STM duration is a variable. The biblical text is, however, very precise regarding the number of cycles: 1260. This suggests the existence of intra-hippocampal spike trains (timing bursts) which last exactly 1260 cycles. I will leave it to neurobiologists to figure out how this can be tested.

But there is more. Once an item is gone from short-term memory, it must wait about 35 milliseconds (3 and 1/2 days or 3.5 cycles) before it can be allowed back (resurrected) into STM. In Revelation, this is symbolized by the two witnesses being dead for three and a half days (Rev. 11:9) before being resurrected. More on this in a future page.

Top-down Concept Formation

A number of AI researchers (e.g., Jeff Hawkins) have concluded that the brain uses a bottom-up perceptual pyramid or feed-forward hierarchical tree that culminates in invariant representations of perceived objects. The truth is that high-level concept formation (such as might be represented by a grandmother cell) is accomplished in a top-down manner. It is a motor learning problem, rather than a perceptual learning problem. This is explained in the letter to the church of Thyatira.

Cerebellum Does Not Generate Speech

The cerebellum (Laodicea) is an automaton. It is trained by the motor cortex to perform certain automatic motor tasks whenever the basal ganglia and motor cortex are busy thinking and/or reasoning internally. My understanding of the message to the church of Pergamum (Broca's area) and other Biblical metaphors is that speech is always an attentional or volitional (as opposed to automatic) process that involves corrective feedback from the basal ganglia. The cerebellum is not directly involved in processing speech and language.

Many more predictions to come. Stay tuned.

©2004-2006 Louis Savain