I think of the brain as a computational device: It has a bunch of little components that perform calculations on some small aspect of the problem, and another part of the brain has to stitch it all together, like a tapestry or a quilt.
Interpretation
The brain functions like a complex computational device, processing information through various components that collaborate to create a cohesive understanding.
In this quote, Daniel Levitin likens the brain to a computational device, emphasizing that its various parts work in unison to process and integrate information. Just like a tapestry or quilt is made up of different pieces, the brain creates a comprehensive view of reality by weaving together calculations and insights from its diverse components. This analogy highlights the intricate and collaborative nature of mental processes.
In practice
In a science class discussion about brain function, one could reference this quote to illustrate the complexity of neural processes.
As soon as you hear a proposition, the creative brain in humans assumes for the moment that it's true, and starts trying to find evidence. It's what computer scientists in the old days used to call 'Fifo:' first in, first out. The first piece of information that gets in has a privileged position, even if it's misinformation.
What music is better able to do than language is to represent the complexity of human emotional states.
Information overload refers to the notion that we're trying to take in more than the brain can handle.
That walk around the block, that fresh air, is going to help you work more quickly and effectively when you get back.
There are a lot of books about how to get organized and a lot of books about how to be better and more productive at business, but I don't know of one that grounds any of these in the science.
There's an ancient connection between movement and music. Most languages don't make a distinction between the words 'music' and 'dance.' And we can see that in the brain. When people are lying perfectly still but listening to music, the neurons in the motor cortex are firing.
... chemistry is a trade for people without enough imagination to be physicists.
Nothing in the natural world makes sense - except when seen in the light of evolution
We send messages all the time, free of charge. There's a big shell out there now, 80 light-years around us. A civilization only a little more advanced than we are can pick those things up.
If we find life out there, and it's not us, we will deem it not intelligent. But what may be equally as likely is that we find life that's vastly more intelligent than we are. If that's the case, we are putty in their hands.
At the extremes it is difficult to distinguish pseudoscience from rigid, doctrinaire religion.
The theory of our modern technic shows that nothing is as practical as theory.
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