论文标题
如何（为什么）认为大脑实际上是计算机
How (and Why) to Think that the Brain is Literally a Computer
论文作者
论文摘要
大脑和计算机之间的关系通常只是隐喻。但是，实际的计算系统几乎可以在任何媒体中实现。因此，人们可以认真对待大脑从字面上计算的观点。但是，如果没有使物理系统真正成为计算系统的经验标准，计算仍然是一个观点问题，尤其是对于没有明确设计和设计为计算机的自然系统（例如，大脑）。来自物理计算机和数字，当代和历史记录的实际例子的考虑因素明确了这些经验标准。最后，将这些标准应用到大脑中表明我们如何将大脑视为计算机（可能是类似的计算机），这反过来又阐明了该主张既有信息又可以伪造。
The relationship between brains and computers is often taken to be merely metaphorical. However, genuine computational systems can be implemented in virtually any media; thus, one can take seriously the view that brains literally compute. But without empirical criteria for what makes a physical system genuinely a computational one, computation remains a matter of perspective, especially for natural systems (e.g., brains) that were not explicitly designed and engineered to be computers. Considerations from real examples of physical computers-both analog and digital, contemporary and historical-make clear what those empirical criteria must be. Finally, applying those criteria to the brain shows how we can view the brain as a computer (probably an analog one at that), which, in turn, illuminates how that claim is both informative and falsifiable.
