3 ms·

It is presomptuous to think the brain is anything more than a computer. The algorithm is doing pretty much the same thing that a brain is doing, except it's a

It is presomptuous to think the brain is anything more than a computer. The algorithm is doing pretty much the same thing that a brain is doing, except it's a smaller and slower brain, so it's not that smart, and we hardwired some parts to fill the gaps.

esailija 4y ago
The brain is nothing like a computer, for the brain doing things that computers do easily are even in the most trivial cases very hard and otherwise impossible. And vice versa. Yet these things that have effectively zero overlap in capability are the same?
- ihatepython 4y ago
  Perhaps in your case, you are correct, the brain is not a computer, but in the general case, the brain is probably a computer, and in some cases, it's a super-computer.
- danenania 4y ago
  The same could be said in comparing quantum computers to classical computers. It’s clear that computation is one of the brain’s primary functions. Does that make it a computer (albeit one that works very differently from a macbook)? I’d say yes, but it’s essentially a question of semantics.
college_physics 4y ago
> The algorithm is doing pretty much the same thing that a brain is doing, this is just an idle extrapolation that is not based on any fact. if the brain was a computer in your sense of the word it would have been decoded by now. we don't need to get metaphysical (if that is your worry) to accept that we don't know yet exactly what is going on in the brain.
- red75prime 4y ago
  > if the brain was a computer in your sense of the word it would have been decoded by now. Of course not. Existence of an equivalent computer program doesn't imply that it's easy to infer it. > we don't know yet exactly what is going on in the brain That's why it's an unreliable way to judge the distance to human level intelligence.

3 ms·

It is presomptuous to think the brain is anything more than a computer. The algorithm is doing pretty much the same thing that a brain is doing, except it's a

by mgaunard 4y ago

esailija 4y ago
The brain is nothing like a computer, for the brain doing things that computers do easily are even in the most trivial cases very hard and otherwise impossible. And vice versa. Yet these things that have effectively zero overlap in capability are the same?
- ihatepython 4y ago
  Perhaps in your case, you are correct, the brain is not a computer, but in the general case, the brain is probably a computer, and in some cases, it's a super-computer.
- danenania 4y ago
  The same could be said in comparing quantum computers to classical computers. It’s clear that computation is one of the brain’s primary functions. Does that make it a computer (albeit one that works very differently from a macbook)? I’d say yes, but it’s essentially a question of semantics.
college_physics 4y ago
> The algorithm is doing pretty much the same thing that a brain is doing, this is just an idle extrapolation that is not based on any fact. if the brain was a computer in your sense of the word it would have been decoded by now. we don't need to get metaphysical (if that is your worry) to accept that we don't know yet exactly what is going on in the brain.
- red75prime 4y ago
  > if the brain was a computer in your sense of the word it would have been decoded by now. Of course not. Existence of an equivalent computer program doesn't imply that it's easy to infer it. > we don't know yet exactly what is going on in the brain That's why it's an unreliable way to judge the distance to human level intelligence.