The human brain has been compared to many things in an attempt to understand how it works. For instance, similarities have been pointed out between the connections in the brain and a large telephone switchboard. Since then, frequent parallels have been drawn between the brain and modern digital computers. As the twenty-first century begins, this comparison may be particularly appropriate because computers are being used in many applications that until recently were largely thought to be beyond the capability of machines and the exclusive province of the human brain.

The Computer Analogy

Computers are now being used in tasks from playing chess at a grand master level to visually recognizing what is being "seen" through video cameras in specific applications. The human brain's comparison to a computer is the best analogy thus far, although it is important to note that there are important differences.

Digital computers...