There is an Algorithm, which can achieve incredibly fast pattern recognition. It does not grow exponentially for any size of database. In fact, it exists within the database. That is the Intuitive Algorithm.

The Algorithm begins with a coded link between symptoms and diseases. It can be "Yes", "No" or, "Uncertain." This code is contained within the database. Answers to questions lead to a process of elimination.

When the answer is "Yes", all diseases coded "No" are eliminated in a single pass. If pain is present, all diseases, which clearly lack pain are eliminated. The unique feature of the search process is that it does not select. It eliminates.

If, instead of "Yes", the answer is "No", all diseases, coded "Yes" for the question, are eliminated. If the patient has no pain, all diseases which always exhibit painful symptoms are eliminated. Any disease, which occasionally exhibits pain is retained for both "Yes" and for "No" answers.

A sequence of questions carries this process of elimination rapidly to leave one disease, or a probable group of diseases. Specific questions will then identify the disease. If all diseases are eliminated, the conclusion is that the disease is unknown to the Expert System.

The Questioning priority is decided, by choosing the one with the most number of "Yes" links to diseases. Questions only related to deleted diseases are removed. Since the whole database, including questions, is evaluated, the process is holistic. Since the links reside within the database, its size is unlimited.

The "Yes/No" links resemble the rules of rule based Expert Systems. Tens of thousands of rules are evaluated by the system. But, the rule based AI Systems cannot handle uncertainty. Whereas this process manages suspicion by retaining uncertain diseases for further query. By eliminating irrelevant questions, it avoids Stupidity.

The Expert System has delivered solutions in the diagnosis of diseases. Doctors have verified its competence. It was tested in software areas, in company knowledge bases and for Constitutional Law. It was certified for machine diagnostics for ABB, the electrical giant.

After responses to a sequence of questions, the Algorithm delivers its solution. That can take time. But, many questions can be answered in a single pass. These can be the many results of a lab report, or, the multiple online parameters of a power plant. An adequate number of simultaneous answers can deliver immediate recognition. That is instant, real time pattern recognition.

Elimination is switching off - inhibition. Nerve cells extensively inhibit the activities of other cells. Many neurons highlight their perceptions through the inhibition of surrounding nerve cells. Inhibition is a well documented process in the nervous system. Inhibition works to identify context.

The symptoms of a disease form the context for its identification. The Intuitive Algorithm draws a swift conclusion from a context through elimination. People draw conclusions from all the contexts around us. A doctor eliminates a wide range of illnesses, if a patient can just walk into the surgery. Elimination is a potent search weapon to identify context.

Let us assume that nerve cells identify context through pattern recognition. We can then begin to understand the whole as a powerful linked system. The pattern of flow of impulses in the system has been extensively charted by science. It is a process that takes but 20 milliseconds from input to output. Just half a second between the shadow and the scream.

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