Skeletal though they are, neural networks are capable of…

Skeletal though they are, neural networks are capable of incredible complexity. Unlike most computers, which execute a program step by step, they are highly parallel systems with millions of interweaving logical paths. Each neuron acts independently: it does not have to wait its turn; it responds to its own inputs. Data flows through a network like water gushing over a waterfall, filling every void, eddying in some places and plummeting straight down in others-not by some grand design, but through droplets following whatever path their neighbors let them follow. Neural networks have an organic messiness that seems true to biological brains. They do well at the sorts of tasks our brains do well at: recognition, association, categorization. They have trouble with the tasks we have trouble with: logic, math, precision. And like us, they are not programmed, but taught.

— from Takeoff Into Chaos · Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation: Why Physicists are Studying Human Consciousness an

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