The brain is not a computer, but it has the power to compute. The word computare is Latin, and comes from putare – to think. Neither is a computer anything like a human brain. But there are parallels. Christopher Evans, a psychologist, computer scientist and world authority on micro processors, says the brain and computers are both information handling devices – taking impulses which in themselves mean nothing, like sound waves, and processing them. It is also his theory that both computers and the waking brain function are taken ‘off line’ to re-program. Our behaviour responses and information bases need bringing up to date with new experience and information received. In the case of the computer, ‘off line’ means having modifications made to programs. In the human it means sleeping and dreaming – the dream being the powerful activity of review, sifting and re-programming. Thirdly, the brain and computer use ‘programs’. In humans, a program means a learnt set of responses, values or activities, such as walking or talking, but including more subtle activities such as judging social or business situations.
