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Are you sure? This mostly comes up in pop sci explanations where von Neumann architecture may as well be synonymous with "digital computer" because it's all the
by ChrisSD 8y ago
Are you sure? This mostly comes up in pop sci explanations where von Neumann architecture may as well be synonymous with "digital computer" because it's all the vast majority of readers are familiar with.
- naasking 8y agoA "digital computer" is simply one in which information is represented in binary. The encoding of information does not alter the process of computation, so that's an irrelevant detail to compare to. We have plenty of Harvard architecture computers (eg. DSPs), and there are plenty of other computational architectures (DNA computing, optical computing, quantum computing).
- ChrisSD 8y agoSure but my point is they aren't what people think about when you say "digital computer" or use that as an analogy. People think about what they are familiar with in their every day lives.
- naasking 8y agoI don't see how that's relevant. The article is attacking the claim "the brain is a computer". That means all computers. The fact that the article's example were of a specific type of computer architecture, and had nothing specific to do with digital computers per se despite the article claiming it does, just proves my point that the argument is flawed.
- ChrisSD 8y agoBecause it's about people's mental models. When you use an analogy ("like a digital computer") to examine another phenomena than of course people will interpret that in terms they are familiar with. Otherwise what's the point in using an analogy?
- naasking 8y agoThe point of an analogy is to make a phenomenon understandable by showing a formal correspondence to phenomenon that is already understood. I've just spent 3 posts explaining that this analogy fails on multiple levels, so the argument by analogy is invalid.