{"id":46074837,"user":"kragen","time":1764294394,"time_ago":"3 months ago","type":"comment","content":"

We haven't found anything in nature that resembles reverse-mode automatic differentiation, either in evolution or in neuroscience.","comments":[{"id":46084342,"user":"mountainreason","time":1764378216,"time_ago":"3 months ago","type":"comment","content":"

What would that look like. Is there an implementation of the finite difference method in biology somehow?","comments":[{"id":46087058,"user":"kragen","time":1764419623,"time_ago":"3 months ago","type":"comment","content":"

I'd be surprised.","comments":[{"id":46090570,"user":"mountainreason","time":1764448669,"time_ago":"3 months ago","type":"comment","content":"

Yeah thanks, me too. So I'm wondering what point 22 is getting at. How could that even be possible?","comments":[{"id":46098649,"user":"kragen","time":1764524050,"time_ago":"3 months ago","type":"comment","content":"

Biology can use discrete methods; we have discrete neurons (and other cells), discrete chemical species like ATP, discrete amino acids, discrete genes made of discrete nucleotides, etc.","comments":[{"id":46173431,"user":"mountainreason","time":1765029725,"time_ago":"2 months ago","type":"comment","content":"

Fur sure. But I don't get how that leads to an expectation that our biology is computing and utilizing derivatives in a computational graph.

Point 22 seems to imply that the other finds it notable that that isn't happening.","comments":[{"id":46182073,"user":"mountainreason","time":1765119181,"time_ago":"2 months ago","type":"comment","content":"

Author*","comments":[],"comments_count":0,"level":5,"url":"item?id=46182073"}],"comments_count":1,"level":4,"url":"item?id=46173431"}],"comments_count":2,"level":3,"url":"item?id=46098649"}],"comments_count":3,"level":2,"url":"item?id=46090570"}],"comments_count":4,"level":1,"url":"item?id=46087058"}],"comments_count":5,"level":0,"url":"item?id=46084342"}],"comments_count":6,"url":"item?id=46074837"}

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