ABSTRACT
Our brains contain about a hundred billion neurons, each of which is connected to up to 10,000 other neurons, which makes it immensely complex to study. What we do know is that although the brain processes information and has some computational characteristics, it is not at all like a computer. The brain does not really “process,” “encode,” or “store” information. Our brains are not as fast or reliable as computers, although computers are limited in connections whereas the brain has trillions of them. Our neural networks are not strictly separated into independent modules, each taking care of a specific mental “process.” There are no isolated systems in the brain dedicated to perception, memory, or motivation. We do not carefully and objectively analyze our environment or memorize events perfectly. We construct information when we perceive and “encode” it, and we later reconstruct that information when we remember it. We tend to take shortcuts, jump to conclusions, use rules of thumb because it’s good enough most of the time and it’s more efficient than careful computing all the variables when our survival is depending on a very fast fight-or-flight decision, or at least it was back in the savanna. As Steven Pinker (1997) pointed out, it’s not because our mind is the result of an adaptation designed by natural selection that the way we perceive, think, or feel is biologically adaptive. Moreover, the environment we are currently interacting with is very different from the ones that shaped the evolution 92of our brain. The human brain is undoubtedly a fascinating organ that allowed us to go to the moon as well as to design weapons of mass destruction. Yet, our brain has considerable limitations that will probably make it impossible for us to truly understand how it works—unless we get help from smart enough artificial intelligence, or “natural computation.”
