There is no computation in the brain as we all know it. What kind is there?

There is no computation
in the brain as we all know it. What kind is there?

300 years ago, Gottfried Leibniz proposed binary computations, introduced the concept of two symbols — 0 and 1, and proved that they are enough to imply a certain logic of calculations. A century and a half later George Bull continued Leibniz's work by describing algebraic systems in relation to logic (aka Boolean algebra or logic algebra). The result is the binary computations that represent an integral part of computer logic.

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Marvin Minsky, one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence and co-founder of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT, argued in the mid-20th century that the human mind is just a computer made of meat. In his opinion, the brain has the same processes, conclusions and even has ‘engineering solutions’ as computers, but these solutions have turned out that way over millions of years of evolution.

On the other hand, Alan Turing pointed out in his thesis that mathematical thinking consists of two processes. One of them is intuition, which is a process of making decisions that are not the result of a conscious chain of reasoning and calculations. However, this conclusion is in no way reflected in his work on computer logic and computer machines.

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Another Nobel laureate, neurophysiologist Gerald Edelman harshly criticized the idea of the brain being a computer, believing that the work of the brain is based on completely different principles, and suggested that the brain should not be considered as an ‘ordinary organ’ and even less as a ‘computer’.

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John von Neumann, who created the architecture of modern computers, said as early as in 1948 that the central nervous system is an automaton. Neumann knew computer logic, but whether he knew the principles of the brain is highly questionable.

This new or different term should not only explain computation in some other way, since when we talk about processes in the brain, we do not seem to be talking about computation in the conventional sense of the term.

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Computation is a term as well as arithmetic, multiplication, and division. This term means something specific (see above). Therefore, we need a different term for the completely dissimilar processes that are going on in the brain.

What is computation in general? This concept was introduced by Thomas Hobbes in 1656. By his definition, to ‘’compute‘’ means either to collect the sum of several things that are added together, or to know what remains when one thing is taken out of another. Such mathematical operations as multiplication and division can also be classified as computation according to Hobbes.

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But if the brain does without computation in the current understanding of the term (back propagation, Bayes 'theorem, integrals, differentials, functions, etc.), what other methods does it have? What computability?

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We need a term or a cloud of terms, methods, principles, concepts and laws with their actual values, albeit radically different from the currently accepted ones, which would describe and explain these processes.

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Von Neumann himself eventually argued that the workings of the brain are based on radically different processes from those with which we are familiar with in arithmetic and mathematics. Turing, in fact, referred to the same thing: the brain does not work according to mathematical calculations. However, this knowledge/ understanding of the coryphees of computer thought is not used in any way, at least not in a practical sense, i.e. in technological solutions, hardware, software, etc.

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Thus, in modern computers, memory and computation, according to von Neumann's architecture, are separated. But this is not the case in the brain: memory and computation are somehow united. And the von Neumann's architecture is the bottleneck of computer technology today.