Call for 10-Year $4B Mind Research Effort
A little over a year ago, ten scientists proposed a $4B research effort into the nature of the mind, similar to what was done in the 1990s for the Decade of the Brain. They argue:
“A deep scientific understanding of how the mind perceives, thinks, and acts is within our grasp. Such an understanding will have a revolutionary impact on national interests in science, medicine, economic growth, security, and well-being. It is our belief that paradigm-shifting progress can be made now by establishing a major national research initiative called The Decade of the Mind.”
I agree. This is a key reason why the time is now to work towards cognitive design or an approach to design based upon how minds (real and artificial) work.
The research program they call for involves many disciplines and has four primary goals – modeling, understanding, healing and protecting, and enriching the mind.
Realizing any of these goals will greatly accelerate progress in cognitive design.
In his thought provoking blog on Cognitive Computing, Dr. Modhas (IBM) quotes a Washington Post article from September 2007 on the initiative:
In a letter published a few weeks ago in the journal Science, 10 scientists said that a Decade of the Mind would help us understand mental disorders that affect 50 million Americans and cost more than $400 billion a year. It might also aid in the development of intelligent machines and new computing techniques. A breakthrough in mind research, the scientists wrote, could have “broad and dramatic impacts on the economy, national security, and our social well-being.”
I echo the claim that a decade of the mind (DOM) research effort could have a broad and dramatic economic and social impact. It would vastly improve our ability to design all sorts of things from new products and more effective behavior change programs to innovative services that better fit how minds actually work. Designs that are more ergonomic for our minds means a wave of innovation, a new approach to managing our organizations and new tools for solving hard social problems.
To learn more you can check out the Washington post article, What Makes up a Mind?, review materials from the Decade of the Mind III – Emergence of Mind or the agenda for the DOM- IV: Reverse engineering the brain meeting that just ended. Hopefully, one of the key voices in the initiative, Dr Jim Olds from George Mason University will blog on his impression of the meeting.
