10 Important Differences Between Brains and Computers

"These differences may be crucial to understanding the mechanisms of neural information processing, and ultimately for the creation of artificial intelligence. Below, I review the most important of these differences (and the consequences to cognitive psychology of failing to recognize them)".

clipped from scienceblogs.com 10 Important Differences Between Brains and Computers "A good metaphor is something even the police should keep an eye on." - G.C. Lichtenberg Although the brain-computer metaphor has served cognitive psychology well, research in cognitive neuroscience has revealed many important differences between brains and computers Brains are analogue; computers are digital The brain uses content-addressable memory The brain is a massively parallel machine; computers are modular and serial Processing speed is not fixed in the brain; there is no system clock Short-term memory is not like RAM No hardware/software distinction can be made with respect to the brain or mind Synapses are far more complex than electrical logic gates Unlike computers, processing and memory are performed by the same components in the brain The brain is a self-organizing system Brains have bodies Bonus Difference: The brain is much, much bigger than any [current] computer