|
| |
|
McGovern Q&A
|
Patrick J. McGovern
Q & A
Q.1. This investment may surprise people who have followed the growth of IDG. As the largest high tech media company, why did you invest in neuroscience and not computers?
A.1. International Data Group (IDG) was founded 36 years ago with the objective of helping people improve their quality of life around the world by providing information about technology that increases the information and analytical resources available to the human mind. The ability to help people with information is closely related to the ability of the human mind to effectively receive the information, analyze it, associate it with other facts and experiences, store it and retrieve it effectively, and organize it to best communicate it to others. Therefore, it is natural to expect that as our understanding of the organization, functions, and the capabilities of the human mind advance, information services will be more effectively presented, understood, and used by human beings. Therefore, the McGovern family support for the Institute for Brain Research is a logical consequence of the desire to enhance the capability of human beings to acquire knowledge and use it effectively.
Q.2. What inspired - or continues to inspire - your own interest in Brain Research? When did you become interested in brain research? Who are the particular people or teachers, authors, researchers, whose work or whose vision has inspired your interest?
A.2. I have had a lifetime interest in understanding the brain and its impact on human behavior. When I went to MIT, my major was Life Sciences with a special interest in neurophysiology and the organization and function of the human nervous system. I did my thesis under the direction of Dr. Patrick Wall, a leading neurophysiologist. It was on the subject of the organization and function of the nervous system of amphibians. I took computer science courses to contribute to developing computational models for the function of neural networks. Computers at that time were too limited in processing speeds and memories to be an effective tool for analyzing an area as complex as the human nervous system. This led me to become interested in accelerating the development of computer technology by spreading the word about the ways this technology could best be used to benefit man. This led the establishment of International Data Group (IDG) to provide information to people on how to enhance the memory and analytical resources available to the human mind through effective use of information technology.
The planning of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research has been greatly aided by the advice and guidance of its Advisory Committee. The Chairman of the Advisory Committee is Dr. David Baltimore, President of the California Institute of Technology. The other members of the Advisory Board are Dr. Paul Berg, Professor of Biochemistry at Stanford University School of Medicine; Eric Kandel, University Professor at the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior at Columbia University; Dr. Richard Hynes, Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Martin Raff, Professor of Biology, Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology at University College London; and Dr. Charles Stevens, Professor, Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory at The Salk Institute.
Q.3. Is there any area within the broad interdisciplinary field of brain research that you find most compelling? Intriguing? Troubling?
A.3. I am hopeful that the McGovern Institute for Brain Research will be able to make scientific discoveries that can contribute to advances in human learning and communication. I believe that a great deal of the conflict in the world is caused by a lack of effective communications between people, which leads to misunderstanding, mistrust, and conflict. I believe that a better understanding of how to organize information to clearly communicate it so that the recipient correctly understands the message being communicated will lead to improved interpersonal communications, a reduction of misunderstanding and conflict in the world, and an enhancement of learning skills leading to improvements in education.
I believe that neuroscience is now poised to make dramatic advances in understanding the human mind and behavior. The development of powerful new tools such as whole brain imaging allows researchers to effectively address the daunting complexity of the mammalian brain and to begin to understand the biological basis for human thought, language, and behavior. I hope the research at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research will be able to advance the understanding of perception, memory, and learning of communication, including speech and language, and of emotional and social interaction.
Q.4. Brain research is a very long-term project. What is your vision for this research that may yield in, say, 25 years? 50 years? What kind of difference may this research make in people's lives?
A.4. I am hopeful that the scientific research done at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research can make significant contributions to advancing human learning and communication within the next 20 years. By understanding how the human mind receives, analyzes, organizes, associates, stores, and retrieves information, one will be better able to organize information and present it to the recipient in ways that are clear and unambiguous. This will lead to a reduction in misunderstanding and the conflict caused by it. The result will be a world with less interpersonal conflict and aggression caused by misunderstanding information from other people. These advances will lead to improvement in the effectiveness of the process of education and learning, resulting in people learning more quickly, understanding better, and being able to recall and use the information effectively when needed.
Q.5. Are there ongoing philosophical questions that you have considered important during your lives and careers?
A.5. I have a deep desire to help to advance science and technology which will lead to human beings having a higher standard of living with reduced misunderstanding, conflict, and violence. I feel as we move into the knowledge economy improvements in receiving, analyzing, associating, storing, retrieving, and effectively communicating information to others will be the key cause of economic advances for society and enhancement to the standard of living and quality of life for people.
Q.6. Has your study and reflection on brain sciences stimulated new questions or made you newly curious about human intelligence and capabilities? What are these?
A.6. I have been very interested in how human misperception occurs. It is fascinating to understand how optical illusion causes the human mind to perceive two different mental images from the same optical image. Also, it is common experience that multiple eyewitnesses to the same event have a different recollection of what actually happened at the event. The implication is that a good deal of what we believe we see is filled in by our expectations based on previous experience, rather than direct visual perception. I am hopeful that scientific discoveries made at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research will help us to understand how these misperceptions occur and help cognitive science develop techniques to eliminate such misperceptions and misunderstanding, leading to improved processes for learning human communications, education, and learning.
|
|
