peterr@utcsrgv.UUCP (Peter Rowley) (07/04/84)
The point of view implied by cognitive science, which takes many of its
metaphors from computer science, is that the brain is an execution
vehicle and the mind is a "program" running on that brain-- the complete
system. While such distinctions often leave one with a "so what?"
feeling, this one can actually be used to reason with a bit. Psychiatrists
might want to treat either the brain (e.g. by prescribing drugs which
alter the chemical balances in the brain) or by therapy which attempts to
restructure belief structures ("modifying the program").
I understand that garden-variety psychiatrists are rather too fond of
psycho-active drugs... perhaps they can be convinced that "changing the
clock rate" with tranquilizers does nothing to solve the "real problem"
which lays in the "program". Yes, this is all very loose-- it is meant
more to suggest rather than to be a definitive statement. And, in particular,
it is not meant to be taken to its logical extremes... the brain is, after
all, quite different from the computers we all know and love...
p. rowley, U. Toronto