The mechanistic view of the universe is ancient and thinking of things as a set of motion induced cause/ effect dates back at least to Democritus. The ancient

The mechanistic view of the universe is ancient and thinking of things as a set of motion induced cause/ effect dates back at least to Democritus. The ancient Greeks had mechanical computers for astronomy. And mechanical automata have been around for a long time. Depends on the definition of understand. If you mean complete and faithful reproduction then maybe not. At least in one mind. Definitely a set of N minds with X-1 neurons can together understand the whole of X neurons if each simulates under given conditions or subsets of the whole. The mind also probably has a degree of fractal self similarity in its structure and understanding a part gives a representation of the whole.