The predictable us!??

Have you ever wondered why no machines have actually been able to accurately predict peoples’ actions? Forget machines; can people predict people? Are we such difficult entities to be understood? Consider an analogy with a computer. The brain has memory, and so does the hard disk. The CPU of a computer accepts inputs and sends outputs like the brain. The processor can process multiple inputs, and so can the brain. A computer can see, hear, speak, sing, walk, think, and even teach us. Yet we can predict to what and how a computer would respond (unless the computer goes rogue or is programmed to do so), but not how a human would. You don’t actually agree with me, do you? How is it that you can’t predict a person’s actions? Does the brain not send out a signal to eat when we give it an input of hunger? Well, here is an input. If you slap a random person walking on the road, how would he react? He might slap you back, or kick you harder, or ask for an explanation, or someone else might answer you for him. “Oh no. you can predict the output if you know what sort of a person he is”. Consider him to be in a good mood. He might just stare at you and ask you for a reason. The same guy, if in a bad mood, might disfigure your face.

There are people who study patterns of thought and behavior. It is based on the observations of people they have come across. What about the whole world of people they haven’t come across? “Why talk about complicated stuff? I myself can predict my close ones”. In spite of having known a person for ages, haven’t you ever been taken aback by any of their actions? Once in an established relation or an organization, it is the monotonous protocol or behaviour we follow. It doesn’t mean we cannot deviate; it is just that we don’t want to surprise others. It is this monotony that we recognize in others, that makes them “seem” predictable. Though we might think our thoughts are unbiased and our actions are spontaneous, it is true that our mind has us behaving the way it wants, and not the other way. So atleast till we figure out molecular mechanisms of memory and thoughts, I don’t think we can be predictable like most bots.