Brain Computation as Hierarchical Abstraction

An argument that the complexities of brain function can be understood hierarchically, in terms of different levels of abstraction, as silicon computing is.The vast differences between the brain’s neural circuitry and a computer’s silicon circuitry might suggest that they have nothing in common. In fact, as Dana Ballard argues in this book, computational tools are essential for understanding brain function. Ballard shows that the hierarchical organization of the brain has many parallels with t…