Still, I would conclude from my thought experiments that proportion can’t matter at all in a simple way (i.e. all else equal, and controlling for number of firing neurons), even as a small part of the picture, while number still plausibly could in a simple way (all else equal, and controlling for proportion of firing neurons), at least as a small part of the picture. All else equal, it seems number matters, but proportion does not. But ya, this might be close to useless to know now, since all else is so far from equal in practice. Maybe evolution “renormalizes” intensity when more neurons are added. Or something else we haven’t even imagined yet.
Fair point. I agree.
Still, I would conclude from my thought experiments that proportion can’t matter at all in a simple way (i.e. all else equal, and controlling for number of firing neurons), even as a small part of the picture, while number still plausibly could in a simple way (all else equal, and controlling for proportion of firing neurons), at least as a small part of the picture. All else equal, it seems number matters, but proportion does not. But ya, this might be close to useless to know now, since all else is so far from equal in practice. Maybe evolution “renormalizes” intensity when more neurons are added. Or something else we haven’t even imagined yet.