The brain is not a computer

My brain computes things. So by definition, it is a computer. QED

You're right. I have 128k of RAM.

Right. A brain is like a computer, so far as that is a useful model for discovery. A brain is not like a conventional "computer", so far as accepting this model precludes deeper understanding of brain functions that do not fit the model very well.

just because our brain is not at all like our current 'computers' that we have created architecturally speaking does not mean it is not a computer. Our brains calculate and store and retrieve information, just not to the near-perfect extent that our 'normal' computers do.

I'm a PhD student who studies this stuff. This article is, quite simply, poorly argued.

Most importantly, there's nothing in here that directly argues against the information processing metaphor. The author gives a bad argument that he thinks lies behind the metaphor and shows why that argument is bad. But a) I don't recognize this argument as what motivates the metaphor and b) to show that one argument for a conclusion fails is not to show that the conclusion is false.

The author often points to differences between us and actual computers. No one who employs the information processing metaphor is claiming that we are identical to human-made computers. Rather, the claim is that there's some abstract sense of 'information processing' under which both human brains and computers are implementations. In order for both of those things to be implementations, they need not do so with the exact same kinds of mechanisms, nor must they have the exact same kinds of abilities. (This is why I find the discussion of the dollar drawing case so strange - no one is claiming that we store visual representations of objects in the way that an actual human-made computer does.)

When the author writes:

"To catch the ball, the player simply needs to keep moving in a way that keeps the ball in a constant visual relationship with respect to home plate and the surrounding scenery (technically, in a ‘linear optical trajectory’). This might sound complicated, but it is actually incredibly simple, and completely free of computations, representations and algorithms."

What he describes is not a non-algorithm. Insofar as it's a procedure that takes in certain inputs and follows a series of steps in order to achieve some goal - it just is an algorithm, albeit a somewhat simple one.

More importantly, the author seems to misunderstand what is meant when researchers say that the brain 'runs' an algorithm. Of course you don't consciously crunch numbers when your visual system is chugging away, trying to analyze and sort through the...data...it's getting from the retina. But the lack of conscious computation is not evidence for the complete lack of computation.

There are all sorts of legitimate criticisms of cognitive science - and the author discusses some of these at the end of the piece without really understanding/explaining what's going on behind them. But the author says nothing convincing that it's the failure of the information processing metaphor that explains the limitations/failures of cognitive science.