Systems, Man & Cybernetics - January 2017 - 32

this volunteering and better focus on
your own research." I do not agree
with such a viewpoint. I see myself,
as any researcher and intellectual
does, as part of a larger community, in
which I need to prosper and provide a
meaningful impact to its development.
Being a volunteer does take resources,
which, in the short run, may be seen
as disadvantageous. Interacting with
people provides another dimension
to your work, which you would miss
if you were only limiting your interactions to those narrowly focused on
your research.
Kozma at the radiotelescope array of atacama Large millimeter/
Submillimeter array Observatory at the atacama Desert in the republic
of Chile. His brain-inspired neuropercolation model has been helpful in
modeling large-scale data from distant galaxies in deep space, which
provide information on supernova explosions.

SMC Magazine: What motivates you
to research, teach, and volunteer?
Kozma: Toward the end of my high
school years in the mid-1970s, I read
the book The Computer and the Brain
by John von Neumann and spent a
lot of time contemplating its central
question: what is the language of the
brain? von Neumann concluded that
the language of the brain is not mathematics as we know it. Wow-this
sounded surprising! If brains do not
use rigorous mathematics and logic,
then what do they use? What is the
language of the brain? I was puzzled
and fascinated. However, I did not
pursue this tantalizing question right
away; it took several decades before
I finally returned to study such problems. In the intervening years, I have
learned many useful ideas from various disciplines, which all significantly
contributed to who I am today in science. Those experiences helped me to
see connections between seemingly
remote disciplines and apparently
disparate problems, appreciate the
vast complexity of nature, and realize
that the only way to be successful
is to be humble and respectful in
our explorations.
I have thorough experience with
working at various research laboratories in Hungary, Germany, Russia,
The Netherlands, Japan, and the Unit32

ed States, which I enjoyed very much.
Working as university professor and
having daily interaction with students
provides another type of intellectual
experience that I consider extremely
important. Teaching a subject requires a complete understanding of
the field. The interaction with the students and the questions and answers
makes you think again and again, and
it does not leave room for complacency. It is a brain exercise, sometimes
an exhausting one, yet I enjoy it. It is
a challenge to ensure that students
maintain a state of alertness and interest through the course, question
everything, and, thus, achieve a deep
understanding of the field. I often tell
them that the best way to understand
a topic is to realize its limitations,
know when it breaks down, loses its
validity, and gives rise to yet another
theory and approach. Breakthrough
research can be achieved only by
constantly challenging the status quo.
They should follow their dreams and
turn them into reality. My decadeslong odyssey across continents and
disciplines shows me that the effort is
worth it.
Being a volunteer is yet another way
to challenge myself and give added dimension to my professional life. Sometimes I was told, in so many words,
"Hey, Robert, please forget about all

IEEE SyStEmS, man, & CybErnEtICS magazInE Janu ar y 2017

SMC Magazine: Who are your role
models? Why?
Kozma: I should start with my
parents. They were math and physics teachers; my mother taught at a
high school and my father at a teaching college. I learned from them that
you need to love the field you study,
that you should always try to achieve
perfection and not compromise on
the fundamental issues, and that your
goals can be achieved only by hard
work. Like the second law of thermodynamics, it is the nature of things
that on their own they evolve toward
entropy production, so we need to add
efforts and energy to achieve order-
in this case, in your brain.
John von Neumann was one of
my first heroes and role models. He
is a fellow Hungarian who moved to
the United States and has been an
extremely influential researcher in
mathematics and physics. He was one
of the inventors of digital computers
during World War II; however, he saw
the limitations of the computers and
warned about the misguided parallel between brains and computers.
Despite von Neumann's warning from
his deathbed 60 years ago, the mechanistic use of the computer-brain analogy persists today, obstructing the
development of both fields.
I was extremely fortunate to meet
Walter Freeman in the 1990s, and after exciting exchanges on the role of
mesoscopic or intermediate-range effects in brains and physical systems,
I joined his lab at the University of

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Systems, Man & Cybernetics - January 2017