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Ok_Telephone4183 OP t1_j9d4swy wrote

Reply to comment by turnip_burrito in Computer vs Math vs Neuroscience vs Cognitive science Bachelors’ degree to major in by Ok_Telephone4183

For my high school subjects, should I pick biology or physics to better suit a computational neuroscience major?

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emir-guillaume t1_j9db0i2 wrote

Also take some courses in philosophy/ethics, sociopolitical theories, constitutional/international law, etc. While contributing to the decisions on what people should or should not be allowed to use GPT for, I had to refer back to the underlying reasoning (not just the arguments) of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, etc. Responsible AI should be an integral part of AI research, development, and productization, not a patch to be added afterwards. Having the philosophical foundations for thinking about responsible AI can be a differentiator from those with the typical technical backgrounds.

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turnip_burrito t1_j9d5yxp wrote

The thing is that I can't really recommend one subject fully or leave any out, because they have separate contributions. And there is also a lot of overlap betwen mafh and physics.

For high school specifically:

Physics: mathematical reasoning, electronic circuits

Biology: inner workings of cells

Math: calculus and linear algebra

There are also a lot of other topics that are beneficial to your education that aren't relevant to computational neuroscience. For example it's good to know about DNA, evolution, ecosystems, optics, Newton's laws of motion, chemistry, etc., because it makes you smarter and able to conmect more dots.

So I'd say take both. And also, if available, a class focusing specifically on anatomy and physiology (they may spend a couple months on brains).

In my opinion you should ensure you have a broad education in high school, which will help you a lot more to decide what to pick in college.

And one more bit of unsolicited advice: as a freshman in college look for a research group that will take you in. You will learn much, much faster in a research group than in classes.

If you have to pick just one in high school, I'd say physics, but really it should be all of them. Learning math and physics is more a matter of practice than high school biology (which is all mostly memorization), so it's better to get started with those earlier.

But that's just my opinion. I don't really know anything lol. You should consult with someone you trust in real life instead of some rando on the /r/singularity board

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Ok_Telephone4183 OP t1_j9d9mfl wrote

Thanks so much for the detailed response!! I’ve done some searching online and found that little schools offer computational neuroscience as an undergraduate degree, so which major is better for that? And why not computer science major?

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turnip_burrito t1_j9da33o wrote

I guess you could do computer science, why not. That would also be educational. There are several AI approaches that are more traditional computer science topics that would be good to know about, if only just to compare to ML and brain methods.

Maybe neuroscience major if offered, then. Or some mix of neuroscience, math, and computer science major.

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turnip_burrito t1_j9dmu2r wrote

Data science would probably be a better choice than computer science though (or an AI degree if offered).

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No-Swan5683 t1_j9db0vv wrote

Don't give advice on things u don't understand.

Terrible advice tbh

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Ok_Telephone4183 OP t1_j9db8vh wrote

What do you think? What should I choose?

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No-Swan5683 t1_j9deb42 wrote

Its the usual STEM-centric response u get from someone who lacks critical thinking skills. Someone who thinks all u need is math and science but ignores everything else. A foot soldier cog to be used by people who can actually think for themselves

I won't tell u what to do since its not my place. You have to figure that out yourself

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