We should think of the fact that, for walking, a correlation of hundreds or
thousands of musculars fibers is needed. Dynamically, i.e. depending on the
specifics of any individual movement, on the previous behaviour, on the
anticipated behaviour, on the goal to be attained and on the various external
perturbations, all these fibres will be activated/deactivated in a precise
order, each with the suitable intensity to solve the given problem. At any
moment the problems which could appear are anticipated and the corrections are
made, before the problems occur. The number of models (which are built or
activated), associated with this type of activity, can be tens or hundreds in
a second.
Example: The working speed of a model
Related to anticipation by simulation on a model, I have seen a photo of a
baseball player that was trying to catch a fast ball in flight. The high-speed
photo showed the ball flying directly into the glove of the player. The
sensational in this picture is that the eyes were looking at the place where
the ball had been some time before. The model for catching the ball has
anticipated the position of the ball based on the previous information coming
from the eyes. The action was a success, even if the eyes were unable to give
the real time information, and in spite of the fact that the hand can not move
very fast. This example illustrates the huge advantage of the construction and
operation of models. The effective speed of action can be considerably higher
than the intrinsic speed of action of the components.
Hikers who go on difficult treks with heavy backpaks, which change slightly
their position, know that hiking can be done with exceptional stability.
Personally, the immense capacities of the brain to process information, and
the speed of execution of these incredibly complicated operations, have always
amazed me.
Associated with the above issue, I had a situation on a trek, carrying a heavy
backpack, when a stone slipped from under my foot and I fell. The active
models were not able to anticipate this possibility. In this case, the
capacity to build a new model suitable to the external reality is reduced. As
we know, PSM is activated instead. However, I am still amazed that I was not
hurt during that fall (it was practically a controlled fall, but outside my
consciousness). Usually, PSM tries to save what can be still saved, and it is
even possible, that it will accept sacrificing an arm, to save what is more
important.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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