Pattern Recognition

Discordian Research Technology � Magick for Materialists: The Basic Pattern

Interesting essay on pattern recognition as the Killer App for the human neural hardware.

Everything your mind does, it does in terms of patterns. Everything. That’s why we suck so badly at things like arithmetic, and yet manage to intuit complex computational feats such as driving, playing catch, spotting friends in crowds or understanding what our date is saying in a noisy restaurant. Our pattern-matching ability is absolutely astounding. It is the only thing your mind can do that a machine can’t do better (emotions possibly excepted.) It’s a good thing too, because it’s pretty much the only tool in our toolbox. We have to use it for everything, and that we can drive a decent nail into the woodwork using a knife is testament to our great skill with the knife.

via Technoccult