Can someone break this down for this layman?
Neural networks are powerful without even training them. By merely designing the structure of them you are creating something.
The gist as I remember it was that he theorized that the cortex is composed of assemblies of neurons formed in development (in the womb, potentially with epi-genetic factors). Each assembly, just by chance of it's structure, is likely good at something. Over time, assemblies take up the tasks they happen to be good at and further specialize with experience.