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Article 1229 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: barry@chezmoto.ai.mit.edu (Barry Kort)
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: computer vs. human brain
Message-ID: <BARRY.91Nov5113835@chezmoto.ai.mit.edu>
Date: 5 Nov 91 16:38:35 GMT
References: <1991Nov4.114730.14599@griffin.itc.gu.edu.au>
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Organization: MicroMuse
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In-reply-to: cad00061@griffin.itc.gu.edu.au's message of 4 Nov 91 11:47:30 GMT

In article <1991Nov4.114730.14599@griffin.itc.gu.edu.au> 
cad00061@griffin.itc.gu.edu.au (Lydia Lattanzi) writes:

   I am currently reading in the area of cognition, computation, mind
   modelling, neural nets, etc...

   Does anybody see anything in common between a computer and a human
   brain? Is it worthwhile to try to understand human behaviour by using
   ideas from computing, and vice cersa, is it useful to use our under-
   standing of human cognition to gain ideas in computing?

Both are information-processing systems.  At times, both use the same
methods (or algorithms) for solving the same problem.  It is indeed
worthwhile to study computers in conjunction with the study of brains,
mind, and thinking.  Many of my modes of thinking are adapted directly
from information-processing and problem-solving methods which I learned
from the computer.  And virtually all computational methods in use by
computers were 'learned' (i.e. programmed) by human thinkers.

I find that the study of neural networks offers some insight into 
the learning processes in humans and animals, and explains why people
are good at tasks such as pattern recognition, while poor at other
tasks such as arithmetic or logic.

As I see it, Cognitive Science rests on 4 main pillars: NeuroScience,
Psychology, Artificial Intelligence, and Philosophy.

Barry Kort
Visiting Scientist
Educational Technology Research
BBN Labs
Cambridge, MA


