The article makes an interesting point in fleshing out an analogy between (a specific reading of) the concept of "software" and the mind, but does so in a needl

The article makes an interesting point in fleshing out an analogy between (a specific reading of) the concept of "software" and the mind, but does so in a needlessly condescending tone, which is very distracting. Take this example: "To begin with you may think of software as a series of instructions to the whole system (including both the hardware and the rest of the software) [...] This is as far as programmers in business data processing centers usually get. That is why so many of them keep insisting that "no computer can possibly think; if you know anything at all about computers you should know that they just follow directions". This is an incredibly naive view which only reflects the narrowness of their own conceptions and programming practices." I would argue that defining software as "a series of instruction to the whole system" is perfectly valid. The author, instead, takes "software" to mean the functional properties of dynamic states of the system. Which also sounds like a valid definition, which leads to the mind / brain analogy. edit: formatting