The Ersatz Brain Project: Neural Inspiration, Cognitive Application

There is a complex relationship between the architecture of a computer, the software it is to run, and the tasks it is designed to perform. The most difficult aspect of building a brain-like computer may not be in its construction, but in its use: How can it be programmed? What can it do well? What does it do poorly? Software development in the past has proved far more difficult and far slower than hardware development. There is no reason to expect a brain like computer to be any different. We suggest some operations a brain like computer might do well. Our system is not so much "neuromorphic" as "cognomorphic", that is, biological constraints suggest new ways to perform cognitive tasks.