I got inspired by the "Heureka Machine" in another thread, it's a machine (computer) that finds patterns in problems of physics. It can find patterns in problems that has yet to be solved by conventional means. The problem is that it's hard to relate the patterns that it finds into solutions that we can make sense of. Could the brain be such a "Heureka Machine"? In that it has evolved to respond to the natural world (or the truth if you want) in such a way as to be integrated with it. Being integrated to the world (which should be the same as ensuring survival with it) isn't that the same thing as being part of the same truth that the world holds? Even though animals around us have evolved in different paths I still find much of the same behavior amongst them, and I think that this could indicate that - at least to some sense - we have a common truth that is represented through this shared behavior. We can't know the thoughts and emotions going on inside a animal, but I would suspect that they are much the same as ours (only judging from their behavior), I think it is wrong of us to ignore the fact that our thoughts and emotions could actually be a representation of truth, such that love and free will and other such concepts that has been ruled as artificial and fake might actually be true concepts that applies to us because we have evolved in such a way that we represent truth. Even if not all variables by which we evolve are a representation of that truth the sheer number of variables that could be a representation of such a truth could still be enough to develop the brain in a direction that is always a approximation of that truth. I know "truth" calls for a definition, and I think that it could mean both the visible and measurable ways that the world has an effect on us, but also if there are invisible and unmeasurable effects that we could only have known by the constant evolution towards the visible and measurable (that which we are directly affected by) in which the invisible and unmeasurable are a necessary side-effect that are ruled by the same underlying principle that causes the brain to be so effective in being integrated to the visible and measurable world. I know it got complicated, so feel free to ask so that I can better illuminate this.
Evolution favors no outcome other than survival. If survival means a bigger brain which is capable of grasping truths then so be it, but for billions of species that was/is simply not the case.
I think the only thing the brain may have in common with machines of this sort is that there is some functional idea we attribute to "pattern recognition". It's hard to imagine that there will ever be a machine that emulates neural pathways very well. Besides, no one has any idea how those pathways give rise to the mind.
It is my understanding that the scientific community (at least in general) rules love and "free will" and related concepts as artificial and fake - or as they would put it "an illusion", or something that isn't actually real. It doesn't necessarily has to be a bigger brain, but configurations exists in any brain that is the result of adaptation to the surroundings. To some extent their brains grasps the truths needed for their survival. You could say that they are "street smart" in their own little corner of the world. That is basically what I'm saying. We don't know how the brain gives rise to the mind or how it gives rise to the strategies needed to survive in the world. It is like a "heureka machine" of survival. The same principles that govern our survival also gives rise to ideas that makes sense of the world around us. The principles which we don't know exactly how they work, but they do, and probably - as the brain and the body tries to save energy to limit food consumption - in a very efficient way. The way I see it, is that if there is a simple way to do it then it is more energy efficient and thus enables us to save food and ensure survival. I don't think it would be too far fetched to say that if there is a common truth then that would probably be the most efficient way to understand our surroundings - because we can apply the same principle to many things. What I'm trying to argue for is that the brain might have evolved in favor of truth and thus things that are common to humans (and perhaps other beings) such as love and free will might resemble the truth and not be artificial "made-up by the brain" concepts.
Cyperium, While I agree with what you're grasping at it's important to remember that the machine itself is based on algorithms thought up by the scientists. Whatever design the Heureka incorporates to attain its results already existed in the mind of the people who created it. If you understand that, then you can imagine the machine is doing nothing that we aren't already capable of... it's only much faster and more precise. So I think it might be better to say the Heureka Machine is a little part of our brain made with more efficient material/wiring. As for us evolving towards truth...sure, I'd say there was a time when environmental stresses favored animals with atypical behaviors which allowed us to thrive but unfortunately much of modern society has eliminated those pressures. These days, if we're evolving towards anything it's most likely cosmetic, not a greater intelligence.
