Steven Brust wrote: > Deffusing neurotransmitters through the soup, as you put it, happens during > a lot of activity that cannot be considered "thought" by any reasonable > definition. What distinguishes what we call thought from the other brain > activity? In a word, nothing. "Thought" _is_ the release and reuptake of neurotransmitters, the electrical impulses transferred along the axons of neurons. Of course, it's not those themselves, it, like any other brain function, is the combined activity of tens and hundreds of thousands, millions, of neurons activating and inhibiting in incredibly complex combinations and patterns. The more I consider it and the more I learn about the state of the art in neurophysiology and neuropsychology, the more I have become convinced that what we perceive as "thought" arises entirely out of this cacaphony of apparently chaotic activity. (In fact, chaos appears to be an integral part of brain activity. The most regular patterns occur only during an epileptic seizure.) > I contend that it is, in fact, symbol manipulation. Well, that is what neural networks do best, eh? :-) -- Frank Mayhar frank at exit.com http://www.exit.com/ Exit Consulting http://www.gpsclock.com/