Slime molds remember, but do they learn?(quantamagazine.org) |
Slime molds remember, but do they learn?(quantamagazine.org) |
To say that slime molds "remember" things is to simply define the word "remember" to include: "chemical changes in biological organisms that persist over time". Using the word "remember" makes it seem like there's something more interesting going on, because it evokes our anthropocentric notions of vivid recollection and high level cognition.
As Djikstra stated decades ago, all of these nebulous questions are meaningless until you make them explicit. "The question of whether machines can think is about as relevant as the question of whether submarines can swim."