My new favorite time waster isn't such a waste of time:
Fold it! is a flash puzzle game from the University of Washington's schools of computer science & engineering and biochemistry.
Players manipulate protein chains with a 3D interface. The goal: the highest score by folding the most compact and efficient chain.
The results of the competition turn up predictive protein configurations that could help scientists understand how proteins play a role in causing or curing disease.
Computers have been doing this for a while, but it is time consuming and expensive. This relatively simple game attempts to capitalize on human problem solving skills en masse.
If a thousand human minds concurrently try to solve a given puzzle while connected in real time, could the resulting network be described as a "hive mind" or super-brain?
I think the individual minds could be described as nodes in a larger intelligence, each interpreting and generating information that is compiled and prioritized by the network.
What do you think?
-Robot Crusoe
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