# Building Minds in Computers May Be the Best Way to Understand Brains by Adam Bly > “A physicist at CERN said to me recently that they likely wouldn't have built a new $8 billion collider if there was a better way of moving the field forward. The Blue Brain Project is using supercomputers to construct a mind because the neuroscientists involved believe it is the best way of attaining an overall understanding of the brain. Robots, I now appreciate, are not simply novelty items or tools of automation, but can be a way of gaining unique insight into humans. From simulation to supercomputing, technology is now (or at least I now see) one of science's very best friends (I could say the same for the arts). And the design, magnitude, and complexity of these technological feats satisfy my (and our) need for romance in our pursuit of truth.” > **— Adam Bly**, *2008, Edge Annual Question, “What Have You Changed Your Mind About? Why?”* ## Sources and Context - **Direct Edge response and surrounding essay:** [Technology is Not So Bad](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10437) — Edge published this exact passage in its 2008 Annual Question collection, *WHAT HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND ABOUT? WHY?*. The response page preserves the surrounding argument and qualifications. - **Complete local collection index:** [[research/Edge 2008 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2008 Full Quotation Curation]] — retained source-first record for the complete response cohort and this passage's promotion status. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] - **Article:** [[articles/Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Organic-Synthetic Brain Atlas|Organic-Synthetic Brain Atlas]] - **Article:** [[articles/Machine Intelligence from Cortical Networks and the Allen Institute|Cortical Networks]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/simulation|Simulation]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Simulation Hypothesis|Simulation Hypothesis]] - [[wiki/Artificial Consciousness|Artificial Consciousness]] - [[wiki/Artificial Intelligence|Artificial Intelligence]] - [[wiki/Philosophy of Mind|Philosophy of Mind]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “A physicist at CERN said to me recently that they likely wouldn't have built a new $8 billion collider if there was a better way of moving the field forward. The Blue Brain Project is using supercomputers to construct a mind because the neuroscientists involved believe it is the best way of attaining an overall understanding of the brain. Robots, I now appreciate, are not simply novelty items or tools of automation, but can be a way of gaining unique insight into humans. From simulation to supercomputing, technology is now (or at least I now see) one of science's very best friends (I could say the same for the arts). And the design, magnitude, and complexity of these technological feats satisfy my (and our) need for romance in our pursuit of truth.” — Adam Bly, 2008, Edge Annual Question, “What Have You Changed Your Mind About? Why?” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-adam-bly-building-minds-computers-best-way ```