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In praise of subjective truths
Author(s) -
Zeki Semir
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the journal of physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.802
H-Index - 240
eISSN - 1469-7793
pISSN - 0022-3751
DOI - 10.1113/jphysiol.2009.170415
Subject(s) - praise , beat (acoustics) , orientation (vector space) , psychology , computer science , social psychology , mathematics , audiology , medicine , optics , physics , geometry
‘To determine orientation we occasionally used a PDP‐12 computer to produce a graph of average response vs orientation, generating the slit electronically on a television screen. This method took much longer, and the usual minute‐to‐minute variations in responsiveness of the cell tended to make the curves broader and noisier. We concluded that for both speed and for precision it is hard to beat judgments based on the human ear. Certainly [our curves] could not have been obtained with computer averaging methods before the authors reached the age of mandatory retirement.’ (Hubel & Wiesel, 1974)