"Descartes thought that the brain was a kind of hydraulic pump, propelling the spirits of the nervous system through the body."
— Marcus, Gary (b. 1970)
Author
Date
June 27, 2015
Metaphor
"Descartes thought that the brain was a kind of hydraulic pump, propelling the spirits of the nervous system through the body."
Metaphor in Context
SCIENCE has a poor track record when it comes to comparing our brains to the technology of the day. Descartes thought that the brain was a kind of hydraulic pump, propelling the spirits of the nervous system through the body. Freud compared the brain to a steam engine. The neuroscientist Karl Pribram likened it to a holographic storage device.
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Gary Marcus, "Face It, Your Brain Is a Computer," The New York Times (June 27, 2015). <Link to NYTimes.com>
Date of Entry
07/06/2015
