This is a very important distinction between what I was doing and a stored program computer

The human brain similarly can handle information from a vast number of different contexts without having to be pre-programmed for each particular context that might occur

Difference #8: Unlike computers, processing and memory are performed by the same components in the brain I doubt that that the brain uses exactly the same proteins and other chemicals in exactly the same way for both processing and memory. If you concede this point a and that the brains cells have different mechanisms operating in the same aboxa – the analogy is with a computer on a single chip a which also has everything in the same box. Difference # 9: The brain is a self-organizing system At the processor level the stored program computer is not designed to be self-organising a so one would not expect it to be! My system was designed to model the way the human thought about his problems and the processing of the facts was completely automatic in that the decision making unit mechanism organised information is a way which was independent of the task.

The computer requires a precise pre-definition of the task it has to perform before it can do anything. My approach involves the decision making unit scanning and comparing structured sets in a way that solutions happen to fall out in the process [would you condiser this to be self-organising? The final version of my system had several features which could be called directed self-organisation of the knowledge base a allowing information to become more or less easy to find depending on its usage history.

I must admit I had never thought of implementing it in a way that it reorganised the user’s information without the user being in control a If the system worked this was I suppose you might call that aFree Willa

Because I was looking at a system to help humans I felt it was important that the triggering such a process should be under human control. Difference # 10: Brains have bodies This relates to the input and output of stimuli with the outside world a and I would not expect there to be close similarities between a biological and electronic system. I suspect you may be saying a if your idea was so good why haven’t I heard of it. Rather than go into details let me suggest, somewhat tongue in cheek, a possible reason.

Reason for Rejection a Incompatible with the aReligion of the Magnificent Computera The Philosophy of the stored program computer is rather like a religion. A few people in the 1940s had some ideas which took off like a rocket and everyone wanted to get onto the band wagon. To successfully program the first machines one need a somewhat warped chess-playing type mind a and the most successful programmers lead the stampede to build even more powerful computers in their own image, and this continued for several generations. Within years it was generally accepted that the computer processor was a black box which worked in a way alien to the way humans thought and needed a “priesthood” of super-intelligent systems analysts and programmers to control them.

In addition the apriesthooda started building layers and layers of software to try and disguise the workings of the inner sanctum black box and make it appear human friendly. All this extra software used up memory and computer cycles a but not to worry a as the hardware engineers were building ever faster processors and bigger memories a so no-one ever seriously needed to worry about efficiency. It was boom time all round. While a modern personal computer will do some pretty impressive tasks, there is a vast onion like structure of programs under the skin, written as the result of millions of man-hours of intellectual effort. Even the psychologists were caught up with the excitement and switched from the earlier telephone exchange models of the brain to stored computer models.