F16 and our "restless" brain..Royal Society's take!

It stuck me as a genius whoever designed the F16... pilots have to be absolutely alert and true fighters remain agile every split second!

Same way 'I' as pilot of our constant "restless brain" have got to be alert every split second , not to be led astray!

But when we join an organised service in Government, it is like a stable passenger plane... quite restful with occasional exciting club games like pipping some one in the race for promotion!

http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/364/1521/1181.short

As much as this collection answers important questions, it raises and emphasizes outstanding ones. How are experiences coded optimally to afford using them for predictions? What is the mechanism underlying reconstruction, and how do we construct a new simulation from separate memories? How specific in detail are future-related mental simulations, and when do they rely on imagery, concepts or language? What is the difference in mechanism and cortical underpinnings of predictions that stem from sequence memory (i.e. replaying existing memories) and predictions that stem from construction? What is the role of hierarchies in representations and predictions? It is hoped that the questions that emerge from this issue will inspire and steer future research on future-related mental processes.

Let me conclude this introduction with an intriguing analogy. The fighter plane F-16 is the first aeroplane intentionally designed to have an aerodynamically unstable platform. This design was chosen to enhance the aircraft's manoeuvrability. Most aeroplanes are designed to be stable such that they strive to return to their original attitude following an interruption. While such stability is a desired property for a passenger aeroplane, for example, it opposes a pilot's effort to change headings rapidly and thus can degrade manoeuvring performance required for a fighter jet. This behaviour has led to a saying among pilots that ‘you do not fly an F-16, it flies you’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-16_Fighting_Falcon). As is evident from the collection of articles presented in this issue, the brain might be similarly flexible and ‘restless’ by default. This restlessness does not reflect random activity that is there merely for the sake of remaining active, but, instead, it reflects the ongoing generation of predictions, which relies on memory and enhances our interaction with and adjustment to the demanding environment.

( underlining is by me)

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