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Not just a bad metaphor, but a little piece of a big bad metaphor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2019

George N. Reeke Jr. Open the ORCID record for George N. Reeke Jr. [Opens in a new window]
George N. Reeke Jr.*
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Biological Modeling, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY10065. [email protected]://www.rockefeller.edu/our-scientists/heads-of-laboratories/892-george-n-reeke-jr/
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Abstract

Besides failing for the reasons Brette gives, codes fail to help us understand brain function because codes imply algorithms that compute outputs without reference to the signals' meanings. Algorithms cannot be found in the brain, only manipulations that operate on meaningful signals and that cannot be described as computations, that is, sequences of predefined operations.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 42 , 2019 , e239
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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