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Oscar Romero Jorge Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1103 09/11/13 Topic Proposal: Why Understanding Your Brain is Crucial Introduction/Overview I will be assessing why it is deemed necessary to understand the manner by which the brain functions neurologically. Functions of the brain have yet to be fully understood and the understanding of the brain deeply concerns neurologists, psychologists, engineers and health insurance companies. This ongoing research would primarily provide benefits to people that have experienced brain trauma and may provide a solution to their troubles by having surgery to reconfigure their brain. It would involve research institutions worldwide because this research is an international collaboration. Comprehending how the brain functions could lead back through various centuries but proof that it recently became an international collaboration is given by observing the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) which was founded in 1961. Imagine you just suffered from a car accident and took serious damage to your head which in turn totally messed your brain to the point that you require a risky surgical procedure. Would you not feel more at ease if you knew the surgeon knew exactly what he could do to fix you up? This is very crucial to patients that are in this situation. How can a patient believe a doctor or surgeon will do what is needed to a brain if the experts themselves still dont understand the brain? On the other hand, imagine what could be acquired by others with ill intentions when they know how the brain works and they decide to reconfigure an artificial intelligent computer that is out of control and destroys all of humanity, or even worse; enslaves all of humanity.

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I began to think recently about the Tower of Babel because of how, according to biblical reference, humans once came close to achieving so much grandeur but were detained by powers outside of their control. I understand how science and biblical studies sometimes dont correlate but with me this has lots of influence on the question I plan to pose. Researchers desire to understand the brain and who in their logical mind wouldnt wish to comprehend how our brain handles day to day functions? The possibility to replicate all that intelligence elsewhere so that its used to simplify the lives of humanity is sincerely appealing but this is where the Tower of Babel comes into play; what if we dont need to know? I began my search on Google to and it gave me lots of valid leads like: Wired, Scientific American, Daily Galaxy, TedTalks, and IBRO. On each of these sites I got both a basic and intermediate introduction to various aspects in which the research on the human brain has been touched upon. I also heard about the reverse engineering part in my Introduction to Engineering course. The professor touched about the possibilities that could be unlocked by this discipline within engineering. Speaking with my mom and dad about this project also helped me truly accept that this project would satisfy the assignment. Psychologists seem to really be pushing for as much research as possible because it constitutes that their knowledge about psychology increases as the research about the human brain increases; obviously directly connected. Engineers are intrigued about reverse engineering such a magnificent machine because the human brain is a machine of sorts that has provided so many breakthroughs and it isnt understood itself. The debates that I have come upon in my preliminary research were topics about how artificial intelligence is expected to be smarter than the human brain within the next two decades. Of course, in order for this to happen the human brain has to be comprehended otherwise it would be hard to tell if a machine with artificial

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intelligence is indeed smarter. Blog sites like TedTalks, and informational site like Wired is where I have seen debate about this subject. Scientific American, also has good articles and the proof that this subject is very controversial, not specifically why we should look into this research, is in the comments on the articles by users. Initial Inquiry Question(s) Is the research to understand the mechanics of the brain really needed for use with future applications? My Interest in this Topic I have been fascinated by how our thoughts present themselves to others in open discussions ever since my experience at the North Carolina Governor School program. Since then I thought about taking Psychology and Philosophy courses in my college career because I desired to delve deeper than what little we managed to tap into in the short program duration. I have considered obtaining minor degrees in both of these subjects and by doing research on the human brain I hope to gain more insight than what I have already been exposed to. Obviously, I am very curious because I may minor in Psychology so getting some research done now could prove useful in the future. I know the basic common knowledge of what has been expressed in English classes about how our minds think and with personal inquiry on how I think from time to time. I want to learn how far the research has come and why we should continue to strive to learn more. I also ended up choosing this topic because all I know is theoretical in my head and I dont know facts. Next Steps I will be further investigating articles on Wired, Scientific American, and reading the IBROs website for any leads. I had previously searched the library for the first topic I had in mind and was successful but now I will visit the library again in search of documents related to

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this topic. TedTalks should prove useful as well to hear about different individuals opinions that impact our society. I am excited and sincerely look forward to my potential discoveries.