It sounds like an exegesis of Shannon and Weaver's info theory that I read
somewhere, but I'm sorry, I can't remember where either. People have
described whole societies in terms of S&W's model (Jay wrote a beaut, brief
history of systems theory on xmca once that included allusions to this).
Steven Pinker's work (esp 1997: "How the mind works") is shot through with
the brain-as-computer model. His work is taken quite seriously in many
circles, especially AI.
All this is not new, as you intimate. Historically, people have
enthusiastically compared the brain and body to the latest "sexy"
technology of the day. The mind-as-clockwork metaphor was meant quite
seriously for some time, as was the body-as-pneumatic machine (eg Descartes).
I have (hastily) written some stuff about the implications of this tendency
if you want a copy. The papers are fairly shoddy and haphazard pieces, but
you might find the references useful. I think the tendency has historical
significance because it's quite dangerous for societies to subscribe to
such practices of self-description.
Regards,
Phil
At 23:34 01-10-99 -0700, you wrote:
>
>
>I remember reading an interesting analogy between the human brain and a
telephone system, needless to say
>it was a rather dated piece of work (the analogy I mean) but it did so
much smack of the "brain as
>computer" model that I thought it would be rather fun to do a little
comparison... now my problem (among
>others) is that my brain doesn't store information like a computer does;
so I have this rather vague
>recollection about that work...
>
>Anybody out there know the source of my telephonic analogy
>
>Of course any other trivial trivia about treating the brain like a hunk of
silicon would also be
>appreciated
>
>Cheers
>
>
>
>
>
Phil Graham
p.graham who-is-at qut.edu.au
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palms/8314/index.html