In this review essay, we give a detailed synopsis of the twelve contributions which are collected in a Special Issue in Frontiers Ecology and Evolution, based on the research topic “Current Thoughts on the Brain-Computer Analogy—All Metaphors Are Wrong, But Some Are Useful.” The synopsis is complemented by a graphical summary, a matrix which links articles to selected concepts. As first identified by Turing, all authors in this Special Issue recognize semantics as a crucial concern in the brain-computer analogy debate, and consequently address a number of such issues. What is missing, we believe, is the distinction between metaphor and analogy, which we reevaluate, describe in some detail, and offer a definition for the latter. To enrich the debate, we also deem necessary to develop on the evolutionary theories of the brain, of which we provide an overview. This article closes with thoughts on creativity in Science, for we concur with the stance that metaphors and analogies, and their esthetic impact, are essential to the creative process, be it in Sciences as well as in Arts.
Editorial on the Research Topic Current thoughts on the brain-computer analogy-All metaphors are wrong, but some are useful This project kicked off in the fall of 2020. There are two parts of the title of this Research Topic-Special Issue. The first one evokes the issue raised by Turing ("Can machines think?", Turing, 1950), a question that we, the Editors, revisit reflecting our complementary multidisciplinary backgrounds (Evolutionary Biology, GM; Evo-Devo, PM; and Computer Science, BM) and take it up again with a fresh start; this question made us realize how ripe the Brain-Computer analogy has become for a reassessment. The complexity of the subject needed the involvement of experts from the different fields that have been concerned with many related problems, namely Natural Sciences (here Biology and Physics), Mathematics, Psychology and Philosophy. Indeed, the Topic is certainly timely for, while this Issue was going to press, a number of publications have appeared that tackle these very issues both in Sciences (Reynolds, 2022; Yang and Lu, 2022) and Humanities (Kelty-Stephen et al., 2022).The second part of the title paraphrases a well-known aphorism in Statistics: "Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful" (George E. P. Box). This statement introduces the "philosophical" part of this topic, viz. the semantic issue; in Turing's words: "Can machines think? This should begin with definitions of the meaning of the terms 'machine ' and 'think'" (Turing, 1950). Indeed, both the Authors and the Editors of this Special Issue realized that a number of other concepts, crucial to evaluate the Brain-Computer relationships, were in need of an updated definition: machine (Bongard and Levin), computer (Danchin and Fenton; Richards and Lillicrap), metaphor and analogy (Matassi and Martinez).We started off by making a wishful list of relevant topics that would embrace a vast a spectrum of disciplines concerned.
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