# Numenta Research Meeting - Dec 9, 2019

**URL:** <https://discourse.numenta.org/t/numenta-research-meeting-dec-9-2019/6898>\
**Category:** Current Research\
**Tags:** research, live\
**Created:** [December 9, 2019, 4:31pm UTC](https://discourse.numenta.org/t/numenta-research-meeting-dec-9-2019/6898 "2019-12-09T16:31:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 28

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**Author:** ![Bitking](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.numenta.org/bitking/32/3099_2.png) [@Bitking](https://discourse.numenta.org/u/Bitking)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 4:08am UTC](https://discourse.numenta.org/t/numenta-research-meeting-dec-9-2019/6898/28 "2020-01-07T04:08:52Z")

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Start here:

> [@The definition of self](https://discourse.numenta.org/t/the-definition-of-self/6802/4):
>
> I think that it begins in the vestibular system, and radiates out from there. “[In part of this system](https://discourse.numenta.org/t/how-htm-is-supposed-to-deal-with-spatial-invariance/3051/16), we have a gyro stabilized reference platform (the vestibular system) that is directly mapped to the eye tracking system to keep the eyes from being distracted by self-motion. (At that point, in that little spot on the brain stem, there is the closest thing that if you had the correct instrumentation, you could measure as the neural correlates to a sense of self.” To help those joining the co…

You have the entire body doing inverse kinematic transform to support the gyroscope stabilization of you visual system. All the way to your supporting surface. Add to that your head and eye pointing system and you have a very good directional system.  
Let me go a step further - this same system is your map back to the frame of reference “out there” and your interface between all this and your “end effectors” makes your “personal space” special as it is where your sense of agency has the greatest influence.  
This whole thing is mixed in with your posture control system. If you think about it - it is really the same system.

> [@Somatosensory Cortex References](https://discourse.numenta.org/t/somatosensory-cortex-references/3212/5):
>
> I bumped into this today. It seems nicely topical to your interest. This paper goes into good detail on how much of the heavy lifting is done by subcortical structures. Functional Neuroanatomy for Posture and Gait Control - Kaoru Takakusaki Running the body is insanely complicated - and something that most nubie researchers discount as a minor detail.

This IS an insanely complicated system and goes directly to the point that the primary function of the brain is to run the body.  
This also goes a long way towards explaining this:

> **[Moravec's paradox](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravec%27s_paradox)**
>
> Moravec's paradox is the observation in artificial intelligence and robotics that, contrary to traditional assumptions, reasoning requires very little computation, but sensorimotor and perception skills require enormous computational resources. The principle was articulated by Hans Moravec, Rodney Brooks, Marvin Minsky and others in the 1980s. Moravec wrote in 1988, "it is comparatively easy to make computers exhibit adult level performance on intelligence tests or playing checkers, and difficult...

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