The Metaphorical Brain 2: Neutral Networks and Beyond

The first edition of this work introduced the paradigm of highly distributed co-operative computation, an example of brain operation that has not only become increasingly influential but also provides an increasingly promising approach to the design of next generation's computers. This volume, based on the work of the author and his colleagues and that of researchers around the world, explores and demonstrates the fruitful interplay between brain modelling and computer programming in such areas as vision, visuomotor co-ordination, learning and linguistics. The author develops a theory of schemas as the units of perception, of action, and of knowledge. Such schemata mediate our knowledge of the world and of reality; thus knowledge is inherently and fundamentally metaphoric in nature. The author discusses the implications of his model for the design of future computers, which will share with the brain the use of cooperative computation over a network of processes, and