ABSTRACT
If one begins with concepts and reasoning with concepts, the picture looks like this: the brain processes representations through rules embedded in the brain to produce new representations. If one starts with the biological and chemical processes of the brain, one gets a different picture, and a different set of problems. The brain is regulated and mental processes affected by all sorts of complex chemical interactions and processes. These do not look particularly computer-like. If one assumes that brains and cognitive processes are subject to the same degree of biological variability as physical features of the body, one is forced to ask how this variability relates to variations in cognitive processes. The relation of genes to their expression points in another direction: there is not only no direct one-to-one relation of genes to properties of interest; there are also intervening processes that govern and provide a great deal of variability in the expression of genes.
